Budget fails after heated race, Buscareno and Taylor elected, community contemplates what’s next
Northport-East Northport’s $174,704,748 budget failed by 167 votes on May 18, receiving 1,902 “yes” votes and 2,069 “no” votes. The last time a budget didn’t pass in the district was in 2005. At the time of this report, Northport was one of only four school districts on Long Island to fail; of those four, it was the only one to not pierce the state tax cap.
The results of the vote and trustee election were delivered to the community late yesterday evening, via Zoom and to a group of approximately 20 spectators in the William J. Brosnan building. Incumbent trustee Victoria Buscareno and retiring elementary school teacher Carol Taylor were elected to the board of education. The duo ran together, defeating Tammie Topel and Warner Frey.
Proposition 2, which sought to establish a capital reserve fund not to exceed $20 million over a 10-year period, passed, as did Proposition 3, effectively reducing transportation mileage requirements for students in grades 6-12.
“The public has spoken,” said BOE President David Badanes to the Journal shortly after the results were announced. What’s next is up to the board collectively, he said. BOE members have two choices moving forward: consider modifications to the current budget and hold a second vote, with the same or a revised budget, on June 15 or develop a contingency budget.
A contingency budget would bring the tax levy back to last year’s 0% and put limitations on what the district could spend money on, including capital projects, and most equipment and school bus purchases. It would also remove all non-contingent expenditures.
“Obviously, it’s disappointing,” said Superintendent Robert Banzer after the vote. “I thought we put a reasonable, thoughtful, well-planned, strategic budget together. But this is the process, and we have to honor that process. We’ll go back and analyze it, put a plan going forward and present a budget that’s aligned with what we’re trying to accomplish for our students and our community.”
The superintendent said communications will be sent to the public shortly regarding next steps. A special board of education meeting is currently scheduled for Thursday, May 27 at 7pm, “and additional information about the budget will be forthcoming in the coming days and weeks,” according to an email sent out by Mr. Banzer today.
Newly elected trustee Carol Taylor (left) and Victoria Buscareno, who was reelected.
Both the lead-up to the budget vote and the race for trustee heated up in the past few weeks, with oftentimes contentious debate occurring online, culminating yesterday with one candidate accosted while campaigning near school property.
Candidate Warner Frey was on a curb near Dickinson Avenue Elementary School, one of three polling places in the district, when he received a mouthful of expletives from a driver passing him in the street. “The man screamed obscenities and made verbal threats at me that were loud enough to be heard and noticed by children in a fourth grade class while they were outside engaged in an assignment,” Warner stated in an email to the Journal. One of the children who witnessed the incident was his own son, a student at the school.
“While we live in a wonderful community, we have seen instances where hate, lies, and disrespect have been allowed to fester in our board of education meetings as well as our community at large,” Warner continued. “We must now move forward together with a recommitment to our values of community and respect.”
Northport resident Julie Hendricks Atkins, who supported Frey, agreed. “The past couple of years have been a stressful, anxious time in our school district,” she said. “Passions are running high, and it can be easy to forget that we are all part of the same community. We all want great schools, and we all want our kids to treat each other with respect. But as adults, are we taking responsibility for our part in modeling respect for different points of view? Going forward, how can we come together to set a better example for our kids, and teach them how to disagree in a tolerant, respectful way?”
Trustee Buscareno was at Dickinson earlier in the day, too, with her daughter Lili. Both mother and daughter were emotional after the results were announced. “I think it was a different experience this time around, and a lot going on, and I’m so grateful to be able to do this one more time,” Victoria said.
Carol and Buscareno gained an early endorsement from United Teachers of Northport, where Carol is currently executive vice president (she is set to retire in July 2021).
“At the risk of sounding very corny, we’re teachers and elementary teachers, so we see the world with the glass half full,” Carol said after the vote. “We have an optimistic view of the world; that’s why we are like-minded in many respects and that’s why we ran together.”
How some people conducted themselves on social media prior to the vote “is their business,” said Carol, adding that she hopes behavior like that doesn’t sway the public. “People don’t love dissension,”she said. “You can get change without dissension. And you can do it in a polite and respectful way and still be able to make your point.”
Melissa Baker, a mom of a fourth and fifth grader at Ocean Avenue Elementary School, voted for Carol and Trustee Buscareno. “I believe that however this election goes, we need to unite as a community and work together to see our community through this next phase,” she said. “Regardless of position, school or perspective, we need to all remember that everyone is a person and every person matters. If we can treat each other like each voice counts, we stand a shot at uniting as a community and coming out of this stronger on the other side. I hope this community can start to heal soon.”
Tallies on the trustee results and the remaining propositions are as follows:
Warner Frey: 1,356
Victoria Buscareno: 2,126
Tammie Topel: 1,534
Carol Taylor: 2,079
Proposition 2: 2,461 “yes” / 1,425 “no”
Proposition 3: 2,722 “yes” / 1,230 “no”
Correction: The last time a budget failed in the NENUFSD was in 2005. The above article, which has since been updated with the correct information, originally reported the last "no" vote was in the 1990s.
