GUILDERLAND — The school board here got a first look on Jan. 13 at what next year’s budget might look like.

Assistant Superintendent for Business Andrew Van Alstyne said a rollover budget — in which staff and programs remain the same as this year — would total $134 million, an increase of close to $7 million or 5.3 percent over this year’s spending plan.

Projections on revenues show this would leave a gap of about $3.3 million.

“It’s very common, not just for our district but other districts, to have the gap in the rollover budget,” said Van Alstyne.

A driving factor, again not unique to Guilderland, he said, is “health insurance continues to rise.”

In the 2025-26 budget, health insurance alone takes up 18 percent of the district’s overall budget, Van Alstyne said, stating that, 10 years ago, that figure would “stagger everyone.”

“The increase in benefits, dollar-wise, is larger than the increase in salary,” Van Alstyne said, adding that he is “pretty confident … this district has never encountered this before.”

Contractual salary increases are anticipated to cost $3.1 million more while benefits are expected to cost $3.2 million more.

A modest increase in state aid is anticipated. On Jan. 20, the governor presented her budget proposal, which increased school aid, including a 3-percent increase in Foundation Aid overall.

With inflation, Van Alstyne expects that the state-set levy limit will top 2 percent.

He noted that the gap is “similar to where we were last year” with a rollover budget.

In the end, the $128 million 2025-26 budget passed with close to 75 percent of the vote.

At the board’s next meeting, Van Alstyne said, board members will learn about what vehicles the district plans to purchase next year, which is a separate proposition for voters.

“We’ll talk about fund balance and reserves, our strategy and our history,” he said.

Superintendent Daniel Mayberry is to present a draft budget on March 10, and voters will have their say on May 19.

Towards the end of the meeting, the board’s vice president, Katie DiPierro, reporting on the Communications Committee, said a ThoughtExchange, an online survey powered by artificial intelligence, will allow community members to share their budget priorities.

“We are looking again for input from the community on priorities as we are building the budget …,” said DiPierro. “We would welcome the feedback.”

Board President Blanca Gonzalez-Parker suggested it would be “very helpful to us as a board to continue to learn about what is going on from the perspective of the teachers.”

She recommended asking the Guilderland Teachers’ Association to “let us know about some of the highlights of the past year, especially as we go into budget season.”

“Teachers in the GTAA are doing a lot of social-justice work and work for the community,” said DiPierro, “and it would be nice to give them an opportunity to also share out the work they’re doing to support the community outside of the school.”

Board member Kim Blasiak likened it to “what the teacher reps do at the PTA meetings,” to which other board members sounded agreeable.