By Hank Russell
With the school budget votes being held throughout Long Island today, a think tank just released a study that shows that the region will intend to spend more on each student than anywhere else in the state.
According to The Empire Center for Public Policy, Long Island plans to spend $41,934 per student in the 2026-2027. That is the highest amount in New York State and far exceeds the state, which plans to spend $18,979 on each student. By county, Nassau plans to spend $42,350 next school year — up from $40,420 this year — while Suffolk’s planned per-pupil spending is $41,410, an increase over the 2025-2026 figure of $39,665.
The study also found that more than half of the 668 school districts in the state (excluding New York City, Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester and Yonkers) intend to spend an average of $37,033 per student the next school year. That is up 4.9% from the 2025-2026 school year. In addition, two Long Island districts’ proposed per-student spending will hit six figures: Fire Island ($147,860 for 42 pupils) and Bridgehampton ($129,062 for 185 pupils).
Other school districts looking to exceed the Long Island average are Shelter Island Union Free School District ($72,200), Bayport-Blue Point Union Free School District ($48,273), Uniondale Union Free School District ($46,734), Freeport Union Free School District ($43,325) and Lynbrook ($42,061).
For the 2026-2027 school year, 40 districts are looking to pierce the 2% tax cap. South Country Central School District proposes a budget that would exceed the cap by 8% — the highest among Long Island school districts. The Greenport and Shelter Island Union Free School Districts will look to go 5% above the cap.
By dollar amounts, South Country had the largest amount of all the Long Island districts, exceeding the cap by $5,670,874, followed by Uniondale ($3,316,559), Bayport-Blue Point ($2,182,264), Greenport ($919,036) and Lynbrook ($800,000).