P-J photo by Michael Zabrodsky From left, Frewsburg Interim Superintendent Lynda Quick, and Board President Mike LeBaron conduct business Thursday.

FREWSBURG – To help provide a balanced budget, the Frewsburg Central School District Board of Education is proposing to eliminate about 8.5 positions.

The 2026-27 proposed budget now stands at $24,291,748, a 2.9% increase over the current 2025-26 budget, interim Superintendent Lynda Quick said Thursday at the district’s second budget workshop. In February, the proposed budget was $25,277,100.

Quick said in February that changes were going to be made.

“You will see that we have actually reduced our salaries and our proposed budget, at least as of today, by $135,000. That is really through elimination of positions,” Quick said Thursday.

The proposed eliminations are an assistant principal position, one full-time cleaner position, two special education teachers through attrition, one secondary math teacher through attrition, three full-time teacher aide positions, and one part-time secretary.

“People are leaving. We will not replace them,” Quick said of the special education teaching positions. “We will not replace one FTE of a secondary math teacher that is retiring, and we will shift those classes to be taught by somebody else.”

Quick added that the reductions in positions are tough for 2026-27.

“They (reductions) don’t come easily, and it’s not something we want to do, but we will figure out how to make it work for next year with fewer staff across the board,” Quick said.

The interim superintendent noted that health insurance costs also have increased by $461,574.

“The insurance increase of (about) 15 percent — that’s a tough pill to swallow,” Board President Mike LeBaron said.

Quick said that the district also is reducing its BOCES budget by $104,000 for 2026-2027.

“We are dropping the BOCES budget by 104,000 for next year, and really shaving areas where we feel like we can do that. We do appreciate all the services we get, but we’ve really gone in with a fine tooth comb, cut subscription services and other things that we don’t actively use to bring the budget down,” Quick said. “I will be honest, we don’t have a lot of extra money in this budget.”

The superintendent said one area of concern is the foundation aid provided by New York State, in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed state budget. Quick said like other school districts in the region, Frewsburg’s projected state aid is about 1%.

Through April 15 the board will review and verify state aid, finalize expenditures, and complete a final budget draft.

On April 16, the board will adopt its final budget, and on May 7 public budget hearing will be held, and the budget vote is scheduled to take place on May 19.