Rockville Centre voters say yes to school, library budgets

Voters in the Rockville Centre school district have approved the 2010-11 school budget of $93.4 million. In unofficial results Tuesday night, the spending plan passed with 2,483 votes, 55 percent of the votes cast, while 2,027 residents voted against it. Despite periods of heavy rain during the day, district officials said the voter turnout was the heaviest since 2006.

Residents also elected newcomers John O’Shea and Gregg Spaulding to the Board of Education. O’Shea, who had the highest vote total, 2,552, will fill the full three-year term that is being vacated by Doreen Cordova. He will take office on July 1. Spaulding garnered 2,506 votes — the second-highest total — and will fill the one-year term left open when Kathy Horace resigned from the board in January. Spaulding will begin his term immediately.

The public library’s budget of just over $3 million also passed, with 2,631 “yes” votes and 1,645 “no’s.” Incumbent library trustees Charles Kelleher and April Wexler were re-elected, with 2,133 and 2,046 votes, respectively.

“I’m extremely grateful to the Rockville Centre school community for trusting us to do what’s right for the children in the district,” said school board President Mark Masin. “It hasn’t been easy, but we are extremely grateful to all who voted in favor of our budget.”

“I really want to thank a community that continues to see the value in supporting our schools and children,” said school Superintendent Dr. William Johnson.

District Clerk Cynthia Geones reported that there were a total of 4,364 votes and about 150 paper ballots, up from 3,120 last year and 2,793 in 2008.

Alex Costello contributed to this story. Comments about it? RVCeditor@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 208.