Rockville Centre voters say yes to school, library budgets

Voters in the Rockville Centre school district have approved the 2011-12 school budget of $95.7 million. In unofficial results Tuesday night, the spending plan passed with 1,956 votes, 59 percent of the ballots cast, while 1,369 residents voted against it. District officials described the voter turnout as moderate, despite periods of heavy rain during the day.

Residents also elected newcomer Mayda Kramer and incumbent Trustee Gregg Spaulding — both of whom ran unopposed — to full terms on the Board of Education.

Kramer will fill the seat being vacated by school board Vice President Stephen Kriss, who did not run for re-election. Spaulding had filled the one-year term left open when Kathy Horace resigned from the board in January 2010.

Kramer garnered 1,793 votes, and Spaulding received 2,247.

Kramer, 51, long active in the PTA, is a forensic accountant who has two children. One of them is a senior at South Side High School; the other is in ninth grade.

Spaulding, 49, a Rockville Centre native, is a fire communications technician for Nassau County. He has four children — two at Covert Elementary School and two at South Side Middle School.

The public library’s budget of $3.1 million also passed, with 1,949 “yes” votes and 1,084 “no’s.” Voters returned Trustee William S. Murray Jr. (no relation to other Murrays in the public arena) to the library board with 2,437 votes.

“I give a heartfelt thanks to the community so we can continue our programs,” said Mark Masin, school board secretary. “Despite the rain, there was still great support.”

“I hope to further the technological advancements that we’ve begun ... and continue the success of preparing our students for college,” said Kramer. “I’ll [also] work to make sure the district is financially sound.”

“It was a pretty good turnout,” said Spaulding. “I will help to maintain the level of services the district has been providing.”

School Superintendent Dr. William Johnson thanked the community for passing the budget. He said that Kramer and Spaulding are “excellent people” and that they have been a pleasure to work with.

District Clerk Cynthia Geones reported that there were a total of 3,377 votes, including 52 paper ballots. The overall number of votes was down from 4,616 in 2010, but close to the 3,120 who voted in the election in May 2009.

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