District voters cast ballots for school budget vote and BOE members

HARLEM VALLEY — The blustery weather brought a strong showing of Harlem Valley voters to the polls last Tuesday, May 21, to cast their ballots in the annual school district budget vote and Board of Education (BOE) elections. 

Webutuck

Open from noon to 9 p.m., the North East (Webutuck) Central School District organized its annual school budget vote in the Webutuck High School gymnasium.

According to Webutuck Superintendent of Schools Raymond Castellani, this year’s district vote brought forth 470 total voters. Out of 470 voters, 345 voters cast their ballots in favor of the $23,443,029 district budget for the 2019-20 school year with anticipated revenue (exclusive of taxes) totaling $8,724,179 and the amount to be raised by taxes totaling $14,718,850. Meanwhile, a total of 124 voters voted against the budget.

For the referendum to acquire a mini-van, a maintenance truck and a Bobcat at a maximum aggregate cost not to exceed $135,000, 310 voters said “yes” while 157 voters said “no.”

Incumbent BOE candidates Chris Mayville and Steve Abad were elected to another term on the board, with Mayville receiving 299 votes and Abad receiving 262 votes. New candidate DeLora Brooks received 235 votes. Serving a three-year term in office, Mayville and Abad’s term will run from Monday, July 1, through June 30, 2022.

Once the votes were tallied, the Webutuck BOE ratified the results around 9:15 p.m. on Tuesday evening.

Pleased with the results of this year’s vote, Castellani said, “I’m excited that the community values the school district and that we have put together a budget that is affordable to taxpayers and at the same time allows the programs to succeed and flourish.”

Pine Plains

Meanwhile in the Pine Plains Central School District, local voters stopped by the Stissing Mountain Junior/Senior High School cafeteria between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. to lend their support to the district through their vote. 

Out of a total of 396 votes, 288 voters cast their ballots in favor of the $32,928,878 school district budget for the 2019-20 school year with an estimated tax levy of $23,615,572 while 108 voted against the budget. 

For the referendum to purchase three 35-passenger school buses for an aggregate maximum estimated cost of $180,162, 294 voters said “yes” out of a total of 394 votes while 100 voters said “no.” Meanwhile, out of 395 total votes, 293 voters were in favor of the referendum to establish a capital reserve fund for the purpose of paying for all or part of the renovation, reconstruction and construction of district buildings while 102 voted “no.”

Incumbent candidate and BOE President Chip Couse was re-elected to another term on the Pine Plains BOE with 259 votes as was incumbent candidate Amie Fredericks with 284 votes. Newcomer Scott Peters received 179 votes. Both Couse and Fredericks will start their three-year term on Monday, July 1.

“We are very pleased with the community support for the budget, the bus purchase and the capital reserve,” said Pine Plains Superintendent of Schools Martin Handler. “We will continue to work to do the best job possible for the students of the district with the resources that we have been given. We continue to encourage our voters to participate in the election process.”

The Pine Plains BOE ratified the results with a unanimous vote of approval at the board meeting on Wednesday, May 22.

Millbrook

In the Millbrook Central School District, the annual district vote was held in the auditorium at Millbrook Middle School from noon to 9 p.m.

Out of a total of 315 votes, 249 district voters approved the $29,999,745 budget for the 2019-20 school year while 66 voters cast their ballots against it. For the approval of the capital reserve fund of $275,000 for the Alden Place Elementary School entry security and the Alden Place sink/cabinet replacement project, 239 votes out of 310 total votes said “yes” to the capital reserve and 71 voted “no.”

For this year’s BOE election, Perry Hartswick received 250 votes, followed by Jennifer Carnecchia with 210 votes and Paul Tobin with 202 votes. Additionally, BOE candidate Nick Palomba received 115 votes. Hartswick, Carnecchia and Tobin will begin their three-year term on the Millbrook BOE on Monday, July 1.

With regard to this year’s district vote outcome, Millbrook Superintendent of Schools Philip D’Angelo Jr., commented on how the district’s voter turnout was lower than usual. However, he observed that the passing rate for the 2019-20 school district budget was 79%, which he felt was a strong indication of the Millbrook community’s support.

“This is a very strong budget, it was strongly supported and I truly believe that this is going to support continuous improvement in our district,” D’Angelo said.

The Millbrook BOE will officially ratify the results of this year’s district vote and BOE election at its next regular meeting on Tuesday, June 4, at 7 p.m. at Millbrook Middle School.