By: Matt Hampton
Franklin Square, Sewanhaka and Elmont school budgets passed without any major opposition on Tuesday, and in a set of districts without any contested races, there were no surprises.
In Elmont, only a handful of the hamlet's more than 30,000 residents came out to vote on the school's budget, which passed easily, 950 pass votes to 678 fail votes.
Elmont School Board President Frank Ragona, running uncontested, tallied over 1,000 votes to confirm another three-year term. He said he was "excited about the opportunity," to help guide the educations of Elmont children for another three years.
Joining him will be Patrick Emeagwali, a 10-year Elmont resident, who is replacing outgoing Board Trustee Pam Byer.
"We're ecstatic, we're very happy that we passed all of our budgets district-wide, both the elementary and high school districts" Ragona said. "We're very happy and we were very confident, even in this terribly rough financial time, that we'd be able to pass the budget, because the people of Elmont always want the best of education for their children."
Franklin Square
In neighboring Franklin Square, the school budget passed by an even wider margin, with 1,071 pass votes and 509 fail votes.
Franklin Square School Board Vice President Helen Hoffman, along with trustees Pam Margaroli and Jerome Monaco were reelected to their positions. Hoffman and Margaroli will be serving three-year terms, while Monaco - who was appointed last year as a replacement for John Rendazo - will be finishing out the remainder of his predecessor's term, one year. Monaco will be eligible to run for a full three-year term in the spring.
Sewanhaka Central High School District's budget - likely the most difficult for residents to swallow because of a series of program cuts and reductions - passed by a wide margin as well, 3,648 to 2,461. The Sewanhaka Central High School District's $150 million budget increased by its smallest increment in 15 years, going up just 1.8 percent. Local parents evidently saw that small increase as prudent, given the difficult financial climate. Sewanhaka spent just $16,000 per student in its last budget, the lowest of any central high school district and among the lowest across any district in Nassau County, according to an annual study on school costs.
"Challenging times call for an even greater spirit of innovation and collaboration," the Sewanhaka school board wrote in a recent newsletter to parents, who responded by passing the budget by nearly 1,200 votes.
