Of the 519 total voters, 433 voted on the budget, 304 for and 127 against. There were not as many votes for Proposition 2, which asked voters to approve spending up to $925,000 for roof replacement and masonry repairs, and Proposition 3, which asked voters to expand the use of the capital reserve fund to include plumbing and playground renovations, but there were more yes votes for both.
Proposition 2 passed 337-91, as did Proposition 3 by a margin of 317-108.
“I had total faith in the budget passing,” School Board President Rebecca Mundy said after the vote totals were announced. “I was a little concerned over the propositions because people thought it was extra money, not understanding fully the capital reserve fund, that it's not adding to your tax bill, that's what the money is set aside for those types of projects. And I am just so glad that we can move ahead and get those things addressed.”
The school's budget was one of 116 of Long Island's 120 school districts to pass. In Nassau County, the Lawrence School District had not reported its voting results as of Wednesday morning and Hempstead's budget deadlocked in a tie vote. In Suffolk County, only two districts, Patchogue-Medford and Shoreham-Wading River, saw their budgets voted down.
As excited as Ms. Mundy was to see the budget and propositions pass, she was more so to have a full seven-member board again. One seat has been vacant since former board member Art Williams resigned. With three people running for three seats on the board, it had been determined that the third-highest vote getter would take over Mr. Williams's term, which runs through June 30, 2011. “That seat needed to be filled tonight,” Ms. Mundy said in an interview Tuesday night.
The top two vote-getters would earn themselves full three-year terms through June 30, 2012. Those two were board member Mark Kanarvogel with 306 votes and Stephen Gessner with 297. Board member Linda Eklund received 275 votes.
Because Ms. Eklund's current term runs through June 30, 2009, she had to resign her current seat on the School Board in order to take office for the remainder of Mr. Williams's term.”
After the vote totals were announced, Ms. Mundy called a short board meeting to order. The first order of business was to accept Ms. Eklund's resignation and to re-appoint her and have her sworn in. After step one was done, board member Ken Lewis Jr. joked, “We're sorry to see you go,” to which Ms. Mundy added, “We hope to see you again soon.”
After Ms. Eklund was sworn in, board members faced another decision. They could either leave the seat Ms. Eklund had just resigned open until July 1, when Mr. Gessner's term was set to start, or appoint someone to serve the remainder of the one-year term she won last year. Mr. Lewis said he thought it would be a good idea for Mr. Gessner to start immediately. The rest of the board agreed and Mr. Gessner was sworn in to fill the remainder of Ms. Eklund's term. He will be sworn in again on July 1 to serve the full three-year term to which he was elected on Tuesday. After he was sworn in, Mr. Kanarvogel kidded him. “Congratulations, I think.”
Afterwards, Ms. Mundy said she was glad the board appointed Mr. Gessner to fill the rest of Ms. Eklund's term. “Why keep that seat open?” she said. “We're going to the end of the year. It's a great time to just get him up and running and involved.”
She added that Mr. Gessner “is going to be a great asset” to the board as “the voice from outside the inner school.” All other board members have children who are enrolled in or once attended Shelter Island School.