Public school districts in the Five Towns continue to face rising costs while they work to maintain fiscal responsibility.
At the end of each fiscal year, school districts submit financial data to the state comptroller’s office. They are then graded, on both fiscal stress — their ability to manage financial resources — and environmental stress, which takes into account the socioeconomic conditions in which a district operates.
As of 2025, The Hewlett-Woodmere school district scored zero for fiscal stress, and 20 points for environmental stress, the latter slightly above the average on Long Island. Neither score resulted in a stress designation from the state.
But that doesn’t mean the district isn’t facing its fair share of challenges, Dina Anzalone, Hewlett-Woodmere’s superintendent, said. “The pressures are getting increasingly difficult,” she said.
The state’s foundation aid formula, Anzalone said, has not kept pace with rising education expenses. From 2015 to the 2024-25 school year, she said, foundation aid increased by 27 percent, while per-pupil spending in the district increased by 49 percent.
Anzalone also criticized the state’s per-pupil expenditure formula, arguing that it doesn’t fully account for the district’s financial obligations to students educated outside its public schools.
The state calculates per-pupil spending by adding approved district expenditures and dividing them by the number of enrolled students. Hewlett-Woodmere’s projected enrollment of 2,610 students, Anzalone said, does not include charter school students or those placed in out-of-district programs. The formula, she said, puts Hewlett-Woodmere’s per-pupil expenditure at just over $57,000 — a number that would likely be lower if those students were included in the calculations.
“Those students are costing us something,” Anzalone said. “But we don’t get to count them in our projected enrollment.”
She went on to say that with inflation adding to expenses and the state’s property tax levy increase limited to 2 percent or the rate of inflation, the rising costs of health insurance for employees, transportation, staffing and other expenses have contributed to increased fiscal pressures.
The district currently transports 2,261 non-public school students to more than 100 schools from Commack to the Bronx.
“Our transportation costs last year were $11 million,” Anzalone said. “We’re almost at $14 million this year. The majority of that is non-public schools and out-of-district placements.”
Joseph Ruvolo, a representative for Independent Coach Corp., a bus company that services school districts in the Five Towns, supported the transportation concern.
“Regulations are handcuffing school districts,” he said.
At the start of the 2025-26 school year, the state implemented a universal school meals program, providing free breakfasts and lunches to students regardless of household income. Anzalone said the program reduced the incentive for families to complete applications documenting their income. Hewlett-Woodmere reported 32 percent of its students as economically disadvantaged — a figure Anzalone said is likely an undercount. The Long Island average was 33.6 percent.
Such mandates, Anzalone said, leave school districts to cover unexpected costs. “There have been so many unfunded mandates,” she said, adding, “They just throw them at us,” forcing districts find a way to make them work.
The Lawrence school district, meanwhile, has faced its own challenges. Despite scoring zero for fiscal stress, Lawrence was designated as experiencing moderate financial stress — a category of scores between 45 and 60 — with 55 points.
Among its environmental indicators, Lawrence received 25 points for its large segment of economically disadvantaged students, 82 percent.
“Poverty is just a reality of our district,” Jeremy Feder, Lawrence’s assistant superintendent of business and operations, said. “It’s a demographic issue that you either adapt [to] or you don’t.”
Lawrence received 15 points for its portion of English language learners, 28 percent, compared with Long Island’s average of just over 10 percent. The district received an additional 10 points for its teacher turnover rate of 14 percent, nearly 5 percentage points above the Long Island average.
A positive, Feder said, was the community’s support for the 2026-27 district budget, which passed last May with a 74.3 percent of the vote. He added, however, that budget approval ratings depend on voter turnout.
“The number of people voting is just far less,” Feder said.
Lawrence’s transportation costs this year total more than $19.9 million, an 11 percent increase over the 2024-25 school year.
Looking forward, Anzalone urged residents to attend budget meetings to gain an understanding of the financial constraints districts face before criticizing spending or opposing tax increases. She also called on the state to take action.
“We are trying to be fiscally responsible to our taxpayers,” she said. “We are committed to quality education that our families deserve. We are just asking for a funding system that reflects what it actually costs to educate children.”
