Westbury
Westbury has a new trustee.
Voters elected Mateo Flores to Pedro Quintanilla’s seat. Quintanilla decided to step down at the end of this term, making the election uncontested. Flores received 349 votes.
Voters also reelected incumbents board President Robert Troiano and Vice President Floyd Ewing. Troiano received 420 votes and Ewing received 359 votes.
Westbury voters approved the district’s $201.3 million budget, with 81.5% voting in approval.
The total votes were 371 in favor and 84 against.
It is up $2.4 million, or 1.22% from $198.9 million 2024-2025 budget. The budget proposal does not include a tax levy increase.
According to calculations by Schneps Media LI, the district spends $44,485 per student.
A proposition allowing the district to transfer $8.4 million from the capital reserve fund to finance the construction, reconstruction, and renovation of school district buildings and facilities as needed was approved with 86.7% of the vote. There were 353 in favor and 54 against.
Carle Place
The Carle Place School District’s $58.7 million 2025-2026 budget was approved with 76.3% of the vote. The total votes were 441 in favor and 137 against.
The budget includes a 1.98% tax levy increase, which is below the district’s 2.39% tax cap. It is $1.5 million, or 2.63%, more than this year’s $57.2 million budget.
According to calculations made by Schneps Media LI, the district spends $44,293.76 per pupil.
Voters also approved a proposition allowing the district to take $3,738,700 from its capital reserve to fund five capital projects. It received 80.71% of votes.
The projects include renovations to the high school girls’ gym roof, districtwide security updates, and upgrades to the middle/high school’s fire alarms
The vote was 452 in favor and 108 against.
Incumbent school board President Lawrence F. Zaino, who ran unopposed, received 414, or 79.015%, of votes. Write-in candidates received 110 votes, or 20.99%, of the vote.
Zaino has served the school district for over 25 years and has lived between Carle Place and Westbury for his entire life.
Floral Park-Bellerose
The Floral Park-Bellerose School District has a new trustee.
Victor Ferrante won the election against Lauren Persic for Michael Culotta’s seat, receiving 52.2% of the vote. Ferrante received a total of 401 votes and Persic received 367 votes. Culotta announced his decision to step down at the end of this term in April.
Incumbent Rosemarie Peltonen, who was running unopposed, received 523 votes. Peltonen has been on the board since 2022.
The district’s $40.4 million 2025-2026 budget was approved with 68% of the vote.
The total votes were 605 in favor and 291 against.
The budget is $820,036, or 2.07%, more than this year’s $39.5 million budget and includes a 1.94% tax levy increase, under the district’s state-imposed cap.
According to calculations by Schneps Media LI, the district spends $25,788.96 per student.
Voters also approved a proposition allowing the district to establish a capital reserve to save and allocate money toward capital improvement projects, including renovations and upgrades to school buildings and facilities. The proposition received 70% of the votes.
The total votes were 625 in favor and 267 against.
Herricks
The Herricks School District’s $144.5 million 2025-2026 budget was approved with 69.9% of the vote.
The total votes were 702 in favor and 301 against.
The budget is up 2%, or 2.8 million, from the $147.7 million 2024-20265 budget and includes a 2% tax levy increase under the state-imposed 2.5% cap.
According to calculations by Schneps Media LI, the district spends $32,768.81 per student.
Voters also approved a proposition allowing the district to transfer roughly $2.1 million from the district’s capital reserve to purchase new boilers for the community center and high school.
The total votes were 771 in favor and 222 against.
School Board President Juleigh Chin, who was running unopposed, was elected for a fifth term. Chin received 806 votes.
Sewanhaka
The Sewanhaka community voted 67.1% in favor of the district’s $264.2 million budget for the 2025-56 school year. The total votes were 3028 in favor and 1488 against.
The budget has an 8.5 million, or 3.33% increase from the district’s $255.7 million budget for the 24-25 school year and includes a 2.91% tax levy increase
According to calculations made by Schneps Media LI, the district spends $34,229.15 per student.
A proposition permitting the district to establish a capital reserve was approved with 70.5% of the vote.
The money placed in that reserve, which will come from unspent general funds at the end of each fiscal year, will be used to fund future improvements at district buildings, such as classrooms, facilities, fields, cafeterias, electrical, technology, and security renovations and upgrades. It will have a maximum amount of $15 million and a maximum lifespan of 10 years.
The total votes were 3150 in favor and 1315 against.
Unlike other districts, Sewanhaka voters do not vote for trustees. The trustees on Sewanhaka’s board will be appointed from the four elementary district boards that feed into the high school district, New Hyde Park-Garden City Park Elementary, Floral Park-Bellerose Elementary, Elmont Elementary and Franklin Square Elementary at the district’s July organizational meeting.
Mineola
The Mineola School District’s $112.2 million 2025-2026 budget was approved with 77.9% voting in favor.
The total votes were 560 in favor and 159 against.
The budget is $2.6 million, or 2.41%, more than the $109.6 million 2024-2025 budget and includes a 2.08% tax levy increase, equal to the district’s state-imposed cap.
According to calculations by Schneps Media LI, the district spends $37,981 per student.
A proposition allowing the district to transfer up to $4 million from the 2022 capital reserve to the general fund was approved with 571 votes in favor and 140 against.
The capital reserve fund currently holds roughly $6.4 million. The money will be used to finance repairs to the middle school’s auditorium roof system, baseball field, and entry area to the art rooms.
Voters also reelected School Board Vice President Cheryl Lampasona for her fourth term. She ran uncontested and received 598 votes. Lampasona has been an elementary school teacher in Woodside, Queens, for over 15 years and has two sons in the district.
