By:Jerry Burke
An additional meeting of the Board of Education will take place at Sewanhaka High School on Thursday, June 3 at 8 p.m. It will be a budget hearing, at which time the board will examine any possible changes to the proposal.
The failed high school budget proposal counted only Elmont as a supporter, with voters there approving the measure by an 853-to-775 margin. The other three components of Sewanhaka, Franklin Square, Floral Park-Bellrose and New Hyde Park-Garden City Park, all gave it a thumbs down.
Franklin Square, which passed its $25.7 million elementary-school budget by a razor-thin seven-vote margin, 786 to 779, said no to the high school budget by a vote of 715 to 623. The New Hyde Park-Garden City Park voters, who also voted down their elementary school budget, voted 761 to 669 against the Sewanhaka proposal.
The vote in Floral Park-Bellrose was even more overwhelming against it, with 350 in favor and 561 opposed. They, too, rejected their elementary budget.
A district spokesperson for Sewanhaka said that "everyone was disappointed" by the outcome of the vote. At the June 3 meeting, they plan to discuss the district's options, including a possible modification of the budget. The next regular meeting of the board will take place on Tuesday, June 22 at 8 p.m. at Sewanhaka High School.
