Residents in the Floral Park-Bellerose School District will be voting on the district’s $38.9 million budget, one trustee seat, the $244.7 million Sewanhaka Central High School District budget and two propositions during the May 16 voting day. 

Incumbent Trustee Laura Trentacoste is running unopposed for a third term that runs for three years. 

Trentacoste, who lives in the district with her husband and three children, was first elected to the board in 2017 and again in 2020 after running unopposed.

Trentacoste, a writer, is a graduate of both Floral Park-Bellerose School and Floral Park Memorial High School and has lived in the district for over two decades. She has previously served as vice president and president of the board. 

The district budget, adopted on April 4, includes a spending increase of 7.94%, or $2.86 million, from the current fiscal year. The tax levy is projected to increase by 1.69% from the current year, which does not go over the state’s mandated tax cap.

Floral Park-Bellerose is projected to get 28.61% more state aid. Included in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s state budget is nearly $2 million more in foundation aid, a 36% increase from the current year.

Based on district numbers from the 2022-2023 school year, Floral Park-Bellerose is spending $24,250.02 per pupil according to the proposed budget.

Within the budget, 78% of funding will go toward programming, which includes instructional salaries, special education programs and transportation, among other things.

Capital costs, which include the operation and maintenance of the district, amount to 12% of the total budget.

Administrative costs amount to 10% of the budget.

Budget highlights include the addition of after-school “STEAM enrichment opportunities” in robotics, engineering, coding, architecture and rocketry, according to the district’s budget newsletter. 

Additional highlights include two behavior analyst positions, a resource room for the special education department and a districtwide social-emotional learning program, among other things. 

Floral Park-Bellerose’s proposition on the ballot authorizes the district to expend $1.4 million for portions of a boiler conversion project and HVAC replacement across the district. If approved, the projects would commence during the upcoming school year. 

Sewanhaka’s budget is a $17.3 million, or 7.63%, increase budget-to-budget from the current one of $227,351,685.

The tax levy increases by 2.33% from the current year, which falls under the 2.59% allowable growth factor, which is determined by the state.

Based on district numbers from the 2022-2023 school year, Sewanhaka is spending $31,491.82 per pupil according to the proposed budget.

State aid accounts for 82.5% of the $17.3 million increase in revenue, totaling $72.2 million, a $14.3 million increase from the current year. State aid numbers are according to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s executive budget, which has not been finalized yet.

Administration costs in the budget, a total of $29,463,085, are increased by 3.23% from the current year while program and capital costs have increased by 7.94% and 10.34%, respectively.

The budget presentation from the March Board of Education meeting included a 4.39% and 7.75% increase for the administrative and capital parts of the budget, respectively.

Sewanhaka’s ballot proposition would allow the district to expend $4.25 million from the capital reserve to upgrade cafeterias and kitchens at all four high schools except Sewanhaka, which recently had them done, expanding the career and technical education program facility and general interior upgrades.

Floral Park Memorial High School is set to have two exterior doors replaced, auditorium upgrades for light and sound, boys’ locker room floor and locker replacement and the re-painting of the gymnasium for a total cost of $376,488.

Frank Carey High School capital projects include two exterior door replacements, auditorium light and sound system replacements, window glazing and steam trap replacements and a concrete sidewalk replacement on the west side of the building for $337,932.

New Hyde Park Memorial High School’s upgrades include replacing the exterior groundskeeper door, auditorium light and sound replacements and a concrete sidewalk replacement on the south side for a total of $303,345.

Sewanhaka High School is set to receive restoration to its clock tower, masonry repairs, new interior doors in both locker rooms, auditorium light and sound upgrades and a pump replacement for $464,940.

Districtwide projects include upgrading security cameras, replacing the roof on the district’s storage building and replacing the small bus lot at the Alva T. Stanforth Sports Complex in Elmont for $652,825.

Voting will take place on Tuesday, May 16 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Floral Park-Bellerose School and John Lewis Childs School.