Budget vote and election of trustees tomorrow, May 19
The Northport-East Northport Union Free School District budget vote and election of trustees will take place tomorrow, May 19, from 6am to 9pm.
Northport-East Northport residents heading to the polls this Tuesday, May 19 will vote not only on the proposed school district budget, but also a capital project proposition and a referendum to purchase property, if approved, to serve as a bus depot site.
The election of trustees will be decided Tuesday as well. Although incumbent Donna McNaughton is the only candidate on the ballot, two East Northport residents have launched write-in campaigns in recent weeks in an effort to secure seats on the board. Two seats are open.
The annual budget vote and board of education trustee election will take place from 6am to 9pm on May 19. Voter information, including how and where to vote, can be found here.
School budget proposition
The current proposed budget is $195,126,448, a budget-to-budget increase of $3,815,261. The proposed tax levy increase is 2.26% (representing a tax levy increase of $3,624,010). The finalized numbers represent an estimated increase of $205.61 per year for the average taxpayer.
The final 2026-2027 educational and operational plan and proposed budget newsletter can be found here. A May 7 public hearing on the finalized budget was lightly attended and attracted no public speakers.
Propositions 2 and 3
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.” The funds come from an existing reserve account and do not require additional taxation.
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. The results of a phase two environmental site investigation of the Railroad Avenue bus maintenance facility can be found here.
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.
Election of trustees
The race for two open seats on the Northport-East Northport Board of Education has become a contest between at least three candidates, with East Northport residents Carl Lawrence and Mark Zaharis announcing their candidacies after the April 20 deadline to submit nominating petitions to the district clerk. Lawrence joined the race just about a week after the United Teachers of Northport endorsed Zaharis for the board.
Only Donna McNaughton’s name will be printed on the trustee election ballot, though voters may cast their ballot for any two candidates. The name of any write-in must be handwritten by the voter in a space reserved for that purpose. The two candidates – write-ins or listed – with the most votes will assume the seat of trustee for a standard three-year term.
McNaughton, who has served for more than 10 years on the school board, was also the only candidate eligible to participate in the Meet the Candidates (MTC) night hosted by the NENPTA Council earlier this week. (According to Suffolk Region’s Meet the Candidates guidelines and the NYS PTA Guidance on School Board Elections and School Budget Votes, only candidates who have filed a valid petition and met the legal requirements to be placed on the school ballot are invited to participate in any forums.)
Sitting alone at a dais set up in the Brosnan building cafeteria at the MTC event this past Wednesday, May 13, McNaughton delivered an opening statement: “I think this job is an honor of a lifetime,” she said. “I enjoy every aspect of it…. The perspective that you get when you’ve been around for a while is you get to see kids begin in kindergarten and then you get to hand them a diploma. So I'm excited for what's going [to happen] next. I know that we have a lot of big decisions and choices. I think the future’s important, but I think it’s also important to know where we were, where we’ve been and where we can go. Every student should be engaged to reach their potential. That’s my goal as a trustee.”
Questions presented by the PTA Council at MTC night were submitted by community members and included a wide range of timely topics, from maintaining programs at the high school level to the possible switch to a 9-period day at the middle schools, declining enrollment and the district’s long-term use of school buildings, a present-day LIPA property tax lawsuit, the lack of community engagement evidenced in recent district-led meetings, as well as the propositions on the ballot, from the budget to the bus depot. Those interested in viewing a video of MTC night should email president@nenptacouncil.org to receive the link.
“I wish there were more people up here with me,” McNaughton said in her closing statement, just prior to asking for the community’s vote for both herself and Carl Lawrence. In addition to McNaughton’s husband and current BOE President Carol Taylor and her husband, just two community members were in the audience.
McNaughton reiterated how honored she was to hold the role of trustee: “Whenever I stop doing it, I will miss it,” she said. “I love going to the alternative high school graduation. I love watching the kids graduate, I love watching the plays, going to a sporting event. I love to experience all of that and see the great things that our kids are doing. And also, when there’s issues, figuring out how you can make it better, or what you can do, or…helping lead with your colleagues, you know, in school. I think if we do it right, nobody even knows who we are, because it’s not about me…this is the district that belongs to all of us.”
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