Voters to Decide Budget, 2 School Board Members on Tuesday

Voters in the Port Washington School District go to the polls on Tuesday to determine whether to approve the 2013-14 budget.  

Voters will also elect two candidates on the ballot to serve three-year terms on the Board of Education. On the ballot are Karen Sloan, the current school board president, and Christina Nadolne, who is finishing her second year as Salem's H.S.A. president.    

The proposed budget of $138,808,242 represents a 3.92 percent increase over last year’s spending. The tax levy increase is 3.29 percent, which is within the state’s “tax cap.”  New York State has a complex formula that is applied district by district, which allows tax levies to exceed the 2 percent figure.  

The proposed budget includes some staff reduction. However, school officials say they were able to close the budget gap largely because of an agreement reached with the Port Washington Teachers Association.  

The district has since been able to fund several programs. At the elementary school level, the proposed budget restores full-time librarians, maintains its PEP program, establishes a new special education class in order to return students registered in out-of-district programs, and allows for the purchasing of SMART boards for all classrooms.  

In addition, the proposed budget boosts security measures district-wide and funds half of the mandated computerized online testing costs slated to begin in the 2014-15 academic year. It also funds increased mental health staff at the middle and high school to full-time, enables the district to maintain athletic facilites, and more. 

See the entire proposed budget here.  

Polls are open Tuesday, from 6 a.m.-10p.m., at Weber Middle School, South Salem Elementary School, Sousa Elementary School and Daly Elementary School. Find your polling location.   

Check back with Patch for complete coverage of the election Tuesday night.