A supermajority say yes to Elmont schools budget

The revised Elmont school budget, which had been lowered by almost a million dollars from the originally proposed budget that failed to gain enough votes for passage on May 15, succeeded in getting its needed supermajority vote in Tuesday’s re-vote.

The re-vote on Tuesday, June 19, was 2,249 YES, and 1,352 NO. The yes votes were 62.455 percent of the total votes cast.

The Elmont School District board revisited its original $78.5 million budget plan this month, reducing programs to generate a savings of nearly $971,000. Superintendent Al Harper said this equated to a 4.9 percent tax-levy increase for residents of Elmont, down from the 6.87 percent increase the original budget would have required.

Harper said it was unfortunate that school officials would eliminate summer education and defer building and equipment repairs under the revised proposal. However, he added, more programs and jobs would be on the chopping block if the budget is not passed in the revote.

“There would be reductions and cuts in all areas,” he said last week. “It would be devastating.”

If the proposal had been voted down, the district would have been forced to reduce spending by an additional $2.4 million. Harper said this could have resulted in the loss of the full-day kindergarten program, up to 30 teaching positions, additional support-staff jobs and after-school programs.