Voters in school districts across the North Fork approved school budgets and selected school board members for the 2024-2025 school year on Tuesday night. Here are the results:
The $34,532,000 Southold Board of Education budget, carrying a tax levy of 2.81%, passed by a vote of 486-126. Incumbent Paulette Ofrias and newcomer Thomas Kennedy won the two open seats on the five-person school board. Mr. Kennedy beat incumbent Dr. John Crean by a margin of 20 votes. Dr. Crean was captured on video hurling an obscenity at Mr. Kennedy after a recent district budget hearing. The May 8 incident marked the second time Dr. Crean had been recorded on video directing an obscenity toward a community member.
“I was very hopeful and very appreciative of everyone in the community that came out and voted and I really appreciate the opportunity to serve everyone in the school district,” Mr. Kennedy said Tuesday night.
Mattituck-Cutchogue School District voters approved a budget of $45,345,397, an increase of 3.02% from last year, by a vote of 461 to 169. Proposition No. 2, which authorized the board to draw $727,000 from its capital reserve fund for replacing and repairing the fascia and cupola at the high school, also passed by 505 to 97 votes.
Incumbents Jeffrey Connolly, Douglas Cooper and Karen Letteriello won the race for the three open positions on the seven-seat board of education.
The Greenport Union Free School District budget of $25,374,981 passed by a vote of 334-107. The library vote also passed by a margin of 334-99. No incumbents ran for reelection this year, but newcomers Amanda Clark and Samuel Strickland, Jr. won the two open seats on the five-person school board.
Oysterponds $5,635,498 school budget passed by a vote of 127 to 8, and the second proposition, which allows the school to dip into the district’s capital reserves to expend $450,000 to fund a capital project, was also approved by a majority of voters.
Results from New Suffolk voters are not yet available. The district proposed a budget of $1,111,660, a decrease of 3.90% from last year. Incumbent Deborah Carroll is running uncontested for the only open seat on the three-person board of education.