Saturday, April 26, 2025
Hempstead school district officials sounded an alarm regarding the high cost of charter schools on the district’s general budget at Hempstead High School on March 6.
School administrators forecast that the district will have to pay $107 million in tuition payments to these charter schools for the 2025-2026 school year — a jump of over $25 million compared to the current school year. District officials added that the projected addition of $12 million in state aid is wiped out by this increase.
Gary Rush, deputy superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, explained that losing the money would directly affect what services students will receive.
“It’ll force us to have to make some very tough decisions when it comes to our academic program,” he said. “A robust educational program is the foundation of any successful district, and the impact that the loss of finances will have on the school district will be very detrimental to what we’re able to continue to do here.”
The district’s general budget, funded by local taxes and government financial aid, pays for the school’s staff, programs and resources.
“If there is no relief, we are looking at having to make significant cuts to our faculty and eliminating critical student programming and services,” said Victor Pratt, president of the Hempstead’s Board of Education. “Extracurricular programs which once flourished are now at risk of being cut or scaled back. We cannot continue to provide the same level of service with fewer resources.”
The budget also supports charter schools in the area, which are privately owned.
“Public schools should not be asked to fund charter schools at the expense of their own students,” Pratt added.
The school district has a uniquely high number of students that are currently attending charter schools at 35 percent. There are eight public schools in the Hempstead district, compared to four charter schools — a ratio unseen anywhere else on Long Island, according district officials.
The state-set tuition rate charter schools can charge Hempstead students is consistently thousands of dollars higher than the tuition rates for schools in Uniondale, Roosevelt and Freeport — this creates an incentive for charter schools to come into the Hempstead school district.
Jamal Scott, assistant superintendent for Business and Operations, explained how the tuition rate led Hempstead Superintendent Susan Johnson described the district’s dilemma as unsustainable at the March 6 meeting. charter schools — some from adjacent school districts — to pursue students from Hempstead.
"You ask yourself, ‘why would I, as a charter school, choose students from other districts where I can make more money?’” he asked. “It’s because some of these charter schools are for profit — it’s not a nonprofit, such as a public school.”
To resolve the dilemma, the district offers a proposal to the state to increase financial aid for districts with over 20 percent of its student population in charter schools.
“We realize 70 to 72 percent of the budget is state aid,” Scott said. “It’s very important that the state aid formulas and the state aid receiving is in line with the increases that we’re facing on the expenditure side.”
Hempstead Superintendent Susan Johnson expects the district will have to shut down one of its five elementary schools to afford charter school payments without intervention. She called upon State Sen. Siela Bynoe and Assemblyman Noah Burroughs to forward legislation to relieve the district of the $107 million cost.
“We are calling up state legislators, education officials and community partners to advocate for fair funding policies that ensure students receive the resources they need and deserve,” Johnson said. “The current financial model is unsustainable, and we must work together to prioritize public education and protect our students’ futures.”
Bynoe said she is working with district leadership to find a solution for the increased costs; possibly to include the increased cost into the State Senate’s budget proposal. The state budget is required to be approved by April 1.
“I’ve been working with the district and most importantly, with leadership here at the State Senate to see how we might be able to assist in their shortfall,” Bynoe said. “The final budget will be negotiated down the road, but this is what we deem to be a priority.”
Upcoming Hempstead Board of Education meetings include March 19 and April 23 at Alverta B. Gray Schultz Middle School, 70 Greenwich St., at 6 p.m., and the budget hearing at the same school, same time on May 13. Voting on the budget and trustees is on May 20.
