North Shore residents will be heading to the polls Tuesday to vote in the North Shore Central School District election.
Voting will take place on May 16 from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. in the North Shore High School gym.
To be eligible to vote, individuals must be a citizen of the United States, 18 years of age or older, a resident of the North Shore Central School District for at least 30 days before the vote and be a registered voter.
Eligible residents will be voting on a proposition to adopt the district’s 2023-2024 budget and for two members of the district’s Board of Education.
The North Shore School District adopted a $120 million budget with a tax levy of $89 million for 2023-24.
The budget is increasing by about 3.78%, compared to the current academic year’s budget of nearly $116 million. The budget also includes an estimated 3.7% tax levy increase.
Superintendent Christopher Zublionis said the budget increase is mostly attributed to increases in health insurance, retirement and debt service costs.
On top of inflationary costs, the school district presented its budget amid financial challenges of revenue losses from the decommissioned Long Island Power Authority power plant.
In total, the district has lost $2.35 million from LIPA revenue. LIPA is currently paying a direct assessment, which is gradually decreasing by millions of dollars a year. Zublionis said that over the next five years, the district projects it will lose more than $38 million in total revenues from LIPA.
The district received about $2.1 million more in state aid, but Zublionis said it was not enough for their needs.
When the cost increases and revenue losses are added together, Zublionis said it amounts to $10.6 million for the district to make up
The board made a tough decision to mitigate the gap by cutting a number of jobs to save $2.7 million.
Positions that will be cut in 2023-2024 come from throughout the district, including teachers, teacher’s aids, clerical positions and contingency jobs.
Zublionis previously told Blank Slate that he was unable to provide the exact number of employees who would be terminated or the positions cut as the numbers might change over time depending on circumstances.
North Shore School District Board of Education Vice President Andrea Macari and Trustee Rich Galati are running for re-election unopposed.
School board member responsibilities include developing the school’s budget, creating strategic partnerships with community stakeholders, hiring and evaluating the superintendent, setting the direction of the school district and supporting a healthy school district culture, according to the New York State School Boards Association.
Both Macari and Galati are running for another three-year term.
Efforts to contact Macari and Galati were unavailing.
Eligible residents will also be voting on additional propositions, including amending the scope of projects funded by the 2016 capital reserve fund to include removing and replacing the high school turf field, and, if the former proposition is passed, to expend a maximum amount of $1.3 million from the 2016 capital reserve fund for the turf field and high school dance classroom renovations.
