Voters approve school budget, fill two BOE seats, reject purchase of transportation facility
Incumbent Donna McNaughton and write-in Carl Lawrence won seats on the board of education following the May 19 budget vote and election of trustees. The budget passed by just over 200 votes.
Residents of Northport and East Northport approved yesterday a $195,126,448 school district budget by a vote of 1,642 to 1,413. The approved budget represents a budget-to-budget increase of $3,815,261 and tax levy increase of 2.26%.
Turnout to the vote was slightly lower than last year, with about 180 fewer voters casting ballots overall. Support for the budget also narrowed considerably: this year, yes votes outpaced no votes by 229, compared with a margin of more than 930 in favor of the budget last year.
Elected to the board of trustees are incumbent Donna McNaughton and write-in Carl Lawrence.
The final election of trustees tallies are:
Donna McNaughton: 1,947
Carl Lawrence: 723
Mark Zaharis: 625
Denise Schwartz: 188
Lawrence, who announced a grassroots campaign on social media just ten days before the vote, edged out fellow East Northporter Mark Zaharis, who received the endorsement of the United Teachers of Northport (UTN) after incumbent McNaughton was the only person to submit a nominating petition by the April 20 deadline.
“I am incredibly humbled by the outpouring of support in the lead up to yesterday’s election,” Lawrence told the Journal today. “From the reactions across social media, to the conversations I’ve had with community members, there was a palpable excitement for what I could bring to this position. I truly can't wait to dive into the board’s work, wading into the issues, and hopefully earning the trust people have given me.”
The results of Propositions 2 and 3 are below, with vote totals:
Proposition No. 2/Capital Expenditures: Passed 2,020 to 1,022
Authorizes the Northport-East Northport Union Free School District to expend a sum not to exceed $2 million from the 2021 Capital Reserve Fund (established on May 18, 2021) for the purpose of performing district-wide roof replacements and/or repairs and renovations and district-wide HVAC and mechanical reconstruction/renovations, including all labor, materials, equipment, apparatus and incidental costs.
Proposition No. 3/Transportation Facility: Failed 1,353 to 1,657
Would have authorized the Northport-East Northport Union Free School District to acquire an approximately 1.75 acre parcel of land, and a building, at 24 Railroad Avenue in East Northport, at the acquisition cost of $3,950,000 for use as a bus depot/transportation facility.
Superintendent of Schools Dave Moyer said the results of Proposition 3 “were disappointing because people’s taxes would not have gone up due to the purchase of this property, a large percentage of the purchase would have qualified for reimbursement from the state, [and] the purchase would have been $3 million cheaper than any option to build on one of our existing sites.” Some of the opposition to the acquisition, he said, may have been “due to environmental concerns that were unfounded.”
“Unfortunately, this is a missed opportunity to achieve long-term operational savings in our transportation budget line,” he added. “The administration and board will now have to reconsider transportation facility options.”
Due to the failure of the proposition, the district will no longer be able to relocate the transportation department; the additional space at Dickinson Avenue Elementary School that would have become available for the Champions (a KinderCare partner) before- and after-school care program will no longer be available, Moyer said.
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