Education

Seven candidates will run for four seats on Riverhead Board of Education

Local districts have announced the names of candidates for the upcoming Board of Education races. The deadline to file a petition was 5 p.m. on Monday, April 17.

RIVERHEAD

There are four open seats available on Riverhead Central School District’s Board of Education, with seven candidates running this year and two incumbents, Christopher Dorr and Therese Zuhoski, will not seek reelection. Incumbent Virginia Healy is seeking a second term as a trustee.

Ms. Healy will be running along with newcomers David Dougherty, Eve Kaplan-Walbrecht, Erica Murphy, Cynthia Redmond, James Scudder and Kimberly Wilder.

The three candidates who receive the most votes will serve three-year terms. The candidate who places fourth will fill the vacant spot and unexpired term of former board vice president Laurie Downs, which expires June 30, 2025. The candidate who fills that seat will begin their term as soon as the vote is certified. The other candidates will begin July 1.

At the board’s April 19 meeting, the board adopted the district’s proposed budget of $191,999,210. Although the district was targeting a 0% tax levy, the district’s assistant superintendent for finance and operations, Rodney Asse, announced Wednesday night that there would be a 1% tax increase. That translates to an increase of between $0.12 to $1.15, on most school tax bills depending on the assessed value of the property in a town.

Last year, voters approved a $169.7 million spending plan with about 62.5% approval. A public hearing on the proposed budget is scheduled for May 9 and the vote will take place on May 16.

SHOREHAM WADING RIVER

There are three seats open on Shoreham-Wading River’s Board of Education.

Incumbent and current board president Katie Andersen will be running for reelection along with vice president Henry Perez and board trustee Michael Lewis.

The board is proposing a budget of $84,794,360, a $1.7 million or 2.16% increase from the previous budget. The district’s proposed tax cap is 1.61% with this proposed budget remaining below the state cap. The budget was adopted by the board on April 18. Last year voters approved an $83 million spending plan with a 1.7% increase to the tax levy.

The district is planning to have a budget hearing on May 2 and the vote will take place May 16 from 7 am to 9 pm at the high school main gym.

MATTITUCK-CUTCHOGUE

There are two seats available on the Mattituck Cutchogue Board of Education. 

Board president Patricia Arslanian, whose term ends June 30, is the only incumbent running for her second term this year. Board Trustee Mary Lynn Hoeg’s term also ends June 30, and she will not be running for reelection. Newcomers Lorraine Warren and Lauren Ocker will be running for the board alongside Ms. Arslanian.

The district is proposing a budget of $44,016,344, an increase of 2.77% from last year’s budget, according to the district’s latest budget presentation. The proposal remains 0.41% below the allowed tax cap.

Also on the ballot for voters is the proposed expenditure of $4,391,454 from the capital reserve fund established last May for projects at both the elementary and high schools.  The funds would go towards recoating and repairing sections of the high school roof, a project slated to cost $2,957,903, and at the Cutchogue East Elementary School, which is expected to cost $1,433,551.  Since the proposed expenditure of these funds comes from the district’s capital reserves, it would have no impact on the tax levy for the district.

Last year, voters approved the district’s proposed $42.8 million budget. 

The district held its final budget proposal and presentation April 20.  The budget vote is Tuesday, May 16 from 3 to 9pm in the auditorium.

NEW SUFFOLK 

There is only one seat available on the New Suffolk Common School District Board of Education.

Board Trustee Tony Dill, who served on the school board for more than two decades, will be retiring and leaving the seat open. Newcomer Brooke Dailey will be running for the seat unopposed.

The board has yet to release a proposed 2023-2024 budget, but hopes to release information on the budget by May 1, according to district clerk Jana Prindle.

Last year, voters approved a $1.1 million budget that pierced the property tax cap. The 2.7% spending increase raised the property tax levy from $929,500 to $995,000 — and required a 60% approval by voters in the district.

SOUTHOLD

There are three seats open on the Southold Union Free School District Board of Education. Incumbents Scott Latham and Brian Tobin will be running along with four other candidates: Thomas Grattan, Jr, Thomas Kennedy, Kristian Prior, and Marta Thomas.

The board needs to fill the seat that was vacated by Judi Fouchet after she resigned in March. The first two seats are for three-year terms and the third seat is to finish Ms. Fouchet’s unexpired term which will end June 30, 2025.

On April 5, the district’s board of education unanimously adopted the proposed budget of $33, 168,000. The proposed tax levy increase is 2.94%, which remains below the 3.06% tax cap.

Last year, voters approved the district’s $32.2 million budget proposal.  The district will hold a public hearing on May 3 and the budget vote will be on May 16.

GREENPORT

There is one seat open on the Greenport Union Free School District Board of Education. The Board’s vice president and incumbent Kirsten Droskoski will be running for another term along with newcomer Amanda Clark.

On April 18, the board adopted the proposed budget of $23,709,875 with a budget-to-budget increase of 9.63%. The district tax cap is 8.28%. During his March 21 presentation, district business official Philip Kenter said that the tax cap would normally have been at 3.8% but 4.48% of the tax levy represents the $18 million capital improvement bond passed in 2019.

Last year, voters approved the district’s proposed $21.6 million spending plan. The district will have a public hearing on the budget May 9 and the budget vote and election will be May 16.

OYSTERPONDS

There are two seats available on the Oysterponds Union Free School District Board of Education.

Board Vice President Janice Caufield and board member Jeffrey Demarest, whose terms both expire on June 30, are each running unopposed for another term.

The board adopted a proposed budget of $5,558,823 at a March 21 Board of Education meeting.

Last year, residents approved a budget of $5.5 million, marking a 1.77% reduction from its 2021-2022 spending plan. There will be a budget hearing on May 2 and the budget vote will be on May 16.

Last month, the board appointed Justin Cobis as their new superintendent/principal after current superintendent/principal Richard Malone announced his retirement, following a decade of service to the district.