WHDD BREAKFAST CLUB NEWS - MONDAY MAY 22, 2019

Local NY School budget and proposition vote results from The Poughkeepsie Journal

Dover
Voters in the Dover Union Free School District approved a $33.7 million budget for the 2019-20 scholastic year by better than a 3-to-1 margin, and elected Joseph Tchorzyk to the board of education. Residents voted in favor of the budget, 269-80. The budget represents a 3.38% increase from this year, and Superintendent Michael Tierney said, it will help support advanced placement and SAT help for students, in addition to hiring a social worker.

Pine Plains
In Pine Plains, voters approved a $32.9 million spending plan, elected two members to the Board of Education and approved propositions to establish a capital reserve fund and buy three school buses. The budget passed 288-108, in unofficial results. Fred Couse and Amie Fredericks won school board seats. Couse captured 259 votes, while Fredericks collected 284 votes. Scott Peters received 179 votes and wasn’t elected.

Red Hook
Voters in the Red Hook Central School District approved a $53.5 million budget for the 2019-20 school year by a tally of 1,066 to 320, according to official results. Voters also approved a $2 million solar project that will be bonded over 15 years and result in the installation of 2,250 solar panels at Mill Road Elementary School, Linden Avenue Middle School and Red Hook High School. That passed 986 to 402. A proposition that called for spending $330,000 on two school buses and two wheelchair vans also passed, by a tally of 1,056 to 319. And voters re-authorized a non-voting, student position on the Board of Education by a tally of 1,171 to 218. That position exists but must be re-authorized every two years.

Rhinebeck
Voters in Rhinebeck approved a $35 million budget for the 2019-20 school year.
The tally was 393 to 136, according to official results.The budget includes a 3.20% increase in spending over the 2018-2019 budget. The tax levy, the amount raised by taxes, is $29.9 million, a 3.63% increase, which is within the tax cap. Voters on Tuesday also re-elected Rhinebeck Central School District Board of Education Trustee Steve Jenkins; and elected newcomers Jacqueline Raccuia and Matthew Van Wormer. All three candidates ran unopposed. Van Wormer received 416 votes. Jenkins and Raccuia each received 411 votes.

Webutuck
Despite the proposed budget exceeding tax cap, voters in the Webutuck Central School District passed a $23.6 million budget in a 345 to 124 vote. The $23,679,779 budget proposal was a 4.30% increase over the 2018-19 school year, and the budget’s tax levy of $14.7 million represents a 5.94% increase. Because it exceeded the tax cap, the budget needed a 60% majority to pass. The district’s contingency budget was $22.9 million.The budget included the addition of a part-time music teacher along with $25,000 for athletics. The district had to fill a budget gap of more than $1.1 million. A part-time art teacher, a teaching assistant and aide, and the Mandarin language program are cut from the proposal. Voters also approved a proposition to spent $135,000 on a mini-van, a maintenance truck and a Bobcat utility vehicle. It passed with a vote of 310-157. Incumbent candidates Steve Abad and Chris Mayville won two open seats on the school board, receiving 299 and 262 votes respectively. The position carries a three-year term. Challenger Delora A. Brooks II received 235 votes.