Floral Park-Bellerose School District residents voted to re-elect incumbent Laura Trentacoste, who ran unopposed, approve the $38.9 million district budget for 2023-2024 and pass a proposition expending $1.4 million for interior upgrades. 

Trentacoste was re-elected to a third three-year term with 619 total votes.

The trustee, 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 $38.9 million budget passed with 490 out of 854 total votes, or 57.38%, and has a spending increase of 7.94%, or $2.86 million, from the current 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 will receive 28.61% more state aid and $2 million more in foundation aid, a 36% increase from the current year, according to the state budget. 

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.

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. 

The $1.4 million ballot proposition passed with 569 out of 851 total votes, or 66.86%. The district will be able to use the money, which does not affect the tax levy, for of a boiler conversion project and HVAC replacement across the district. If approved, the projects would commence during the upcoming school year.