Annual budget vote and election of trustees coming up on May 19, plus more district news
The Northport-East Northport Union Free School District budget vote and board of education trustee election will take place on Tuesday, May 19, 2026.
The Northport-East Northport school district annual budget vote and board of education trustee election is quickly approaching; below readers can find a framework of basic information, including links to the details and the dates of important meetings before the vote.
Budget information
In its second draft budget, presented at the March 19 board of education meeting, district administration proposed a 2.26% tax levy increase (the maximum tax levy increase allowable under the state tax levy cap). After the budget presentation, some board trustees requested to see additional scenarios that would reduce the budget by $400,000 to bring the tax levy increase to 2%.
A special meeting to discuss revenue and fund balance, and reserves, will be held on Tuesday, April 14 at 7pm at the Brosnan building. Options to reduce the tax levy will also be presented and a preliminary public hearing will take place.
A public hearing on the finalized budget will take place on Thursday, May 7, 7pm, at the Brosnan building. Past budget presentations, including a budget overview and presentations on non-instructional budget items and instructional budget/staffing items can be found here.
Propositions
On the May 19 ballot will be three propositions. In addition to the budget vote, there will be a proposition seeking approval to expend up to $2 million from the 2021 Capital Reserve Fund (established in May 2021) for “district-wide roof replacements and/or repairs and renovations and district-wide HVAC and mechanical reconstruction/renovations.”
A third bond proposition involves the acquisition of an approximately 1.75 acre parcel of land, including a bus yard and building, at 24 Railroad Avenue in East Northport, and will ask voters to approve the $3.95 million purchase via a 15-year bond not to exceed $4,050,000 to buy the land and cover closing costs. A lease on Brightside Avenue of a lot that currently houses part of the district’s fleet of buses, and costs the district $108,000 a year, expires on June 30.
Exact wording of the capital reserve and land acquisition propositions, as approved by the BOE at its March 19 meeting, can be found in items 11.43 and 11.44 on the meeting agenda.
Board of education candidates
While district officials cannot release the names of potential candidates for the board of education until candidate packets are officially turned in, the district clerk’s office was able to share with the Journal that, as of April 1, four board candidate packets were picked up by district residents. The deadline for submission of completed packets is 5pm on Monday, April 20.
Two seats on the board are open, as the terms of Trustees Dave Badanes and Donna McNaughton expire this year.
Badanes has publicly stated and confirmed with the Journal that he will not be running for reelection. A school board trustee since 2012, he has served as both president and vice president of the board of education. Trustee McNaughton, who has spent over a decade on the board, including time as vice president, has not yet stated whether she will run for reelection.
Board candidate packet information can be found here.
Save the date
The annual budget vote and board of education trustee election will take place from 6am to 9pm on Tuesday, May 19. Voter information, including how and where to vote either through absentee ballot, early voting or on election day, can be found here.
COMPASS: Discussing the district’s financial future
The next COMPASS workshop, “Charting our Financial Future: Planning for What Comes Next” will take place on Monday, April 27 at Northport High School and is open to all district residents.
The COMPASS initiative is a yearlong process designed to engage residents, families and staff in shaping a long-range plan for the district. One year ago, on February 18, 2025, the board of education approved a contract with Discovery Works Collaborative for community engagement consultation services; a “facilitating team” composed of community members, district officials and educators, have since been working together with the consultant, and will develop at the initiative’s end a report on the priorities and values of the Northport-East Northport (NEN) school district community.
The April 27 workshop will be the fourth of five COMPASS meetings; a report presenting the COMPASS board’s findings will take place later in the spring.
Dickinson lease in negotiations
The board of education also voted at its March 19 meeting to approve a lease agreement between the district and Little Angels Center, Inc, a New York State-approved center-based program (CBP) that serves children with and without disabilities.
The lease is for space at Dickinson Avenue Elementary School in East Northport. Little Angels currently operates seven centers across Long Island and could, according to district officials, serve as a universal pre-K program in the future. Because the lease agreement is still being negotiated, the lease’s final terms have yet to be released.
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