Voters Guide: School Budget, BOE Election

Sachem residents cast their ballots Tuesday on a 2012/13 school budget, along with selecting members of the Board of Education. Here is what you need to know:

Budget

The budget is $291.36 million, a 1.2 percent spending increase over the current year. The budget, however, carries a 4.2 percent hike in the school tax levy. That is above the 2.8 percent allowed under the state's new tax cap. If the budget passes, school taxes will rise on average by $256, $224 and $304 for residents in the Towns of Brookhaven, Islip and Smithtown, respectively.

Sachem is among 17 out of 124 districts on Long Island to propose a budget over the tax cap, according to Newsday.

What does that mean?

Local municipalities have the option to override the tax cap, but to do so, budgets must receive a super-majority of 60 percent of the resident vote. That will be the case in Sachem Tuesday. The budget must eclipse the 60 percent approval mark to pass.

The current Sachem school budget received 62 percent of the on a proposed 4.49 percent hike in the tax levy. School board president Rob Scavo has said the 2011/12 budget would have passed by fewer than 150 votes if the tax cap had been in place last year. 

School officials have made clear for months that they believe the community is willing to vote yes on a budget over the tax cap if it means keeping the district's programs and services intact. Officials have called the proposed budget a "rollover budget, minus five teachers." The district will lose 30 teachers to retirement next year, but under the proposed budget, the district expects to replace 25 of them.

What if it doesn't pass?

If the budget does not receive 60 percent of the vote, the board has a few options: it can immediately adopt a contingency budget (no tax increase from the current year; would require more than $6.3 million in cuts), it can put the same budget up for a revote or it can put forth a revised budget for a revote.

If the board decided to trim the budget to under the tax cap for the revote, cuts totalling $2.1 million would need to be made. Among the possible cuts: full-day kindergarten (down to half-day at a savings of $1.5 million) and raising class sizes at the elementary level by two students (saving $1.5 million).

Two failed votes would mean an automatic contingency budget. If the district needed to cut $6.3 million, several other items, according to school officials, could be on the chopping block, including middle school sports, eliminating funding for new teachers, as well as cuts to the music program. 

School Board Vote

There are five candidates running for three seats on the Board of Education. As it turns out, though, only one of those seats is contested. Board president Rob Scavo and Michael Isernia are both running unopposed.  The contested seat currently belongs to incumbent Douglas Duncan, who is facing a challenge from Jon Siegel and Jeff Vinci.

Duncan is running for a third term on the board after first winning a seat at age 18 in 2006. Siegel served a term on the board from 2006-2009 before deciding not to seek re-election. Vinci is the newcomer.

To learn more about each of the candidates, read the candidate profiles below:

Where to vote

Voting will take place from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday at all 12 elementary schools. If you're unsure of which election district you live in, click here. All district residents, age 18 and older and who are registered to vote, can cast ballots.

Detailed documents and presentations on the proposed budget can be found on the Sachem Schools website here.

Follow Sachem Patch on Facebook here and Twitter here for up-to-the-minute results as they come in Tuesday night. You can also sign up for breaking news alerts by clicking here.