Seaford School District Budget Vote 2020 Results Announced

SEAFORD, NY — Voters in the Seaford Union Free School District approved the proposed 2020-21 budget Tuesday, and results were announced the Board of Education election, too.

In a livestreamed announcement around 10 p.m., district officials said the budget passed with 2,386 votes in favor and 1,211 against.

In the trustee election, Natalie Pedisich and Stacie Stark were re-elected.

Here are the results of the Seaford School District’s budget vote and Board of Education trustee election:

Board of Education (two seats)

• *Natalie Pedisich (incumbent): 1,860
• *Stacie Stark (incumbent): 2,162
• Robert Zafonte Jr.: 1,423

(* Elected)

Proposition 2, the library budget vote, passed with 2,567 votes. The library trustees ran unopposed.

Budget Overview

• 2020-21 proposed budget : $73 million
• Budget increase (dollars): $2.3 million
• Budget increase (percent): 3.32 percent
• Projected tax levy increase (dollars): $1.9 million
• Projected tax levy increase (percent): 3.58 percent

The levy is the amount of the budget paid for by taxpayers. It is not the total cost of the budget. The district applies all state aid and other sources of revenue and the balance becomes the tax levy.

If the budget had not passed, the district would have had to adopt a contingency budget, which the district said would require a reduction of about $1.9 million, affecting academic programs, staffing, athletic and extracurricular programs, late bus service, the purchasing of new equipment, furniture, student laptops various facilities and capital construction projects.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo previously warned that the economic effect of the shutdown imposed to curb the outbreak could mean much less money available for state education aid. The state will be assessing and adjusting its budget several times in the course of 2020. Cuomo's last estimate was that state aid would be 20 percent lower than already promised.

In the Board of Education election, Stacie Stark and Natalie Pedisich sought re-election for two at-large seats. Rob Zafonte Jr. challenged them.