Voter's Guide: Yorktown, Somers, Lakeland Schools Go To Polls Tuesday

YORKTOWN-SOMERS, NY — The Yorktown, Somers and Lakeland school districts will be voting on their 2023 budgets Tuesday.

Polls in the Yorktown district will be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday at French Hill School, 2051 Baldwin Rd. in Yorktown Heights.

The proposed spending plan of $115.7 million is 6.3 percent higher than the current budget. District officials said they were focused on the addition of teachers and teaching assistants to support student needs and district programs in general.

The tax levy is expected to rise just 2.43 percent, which is below the state's tax cap.

District voters will be asked to choose up to two candidates for the Board of Education. The candidates are Ronald Fedele, Conrad D. McKenzie, Mike Magnani and Catalina Tyndal. For more information on the candidates, go here.

In the Somers district, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Somers Middle School gymnasium, 250 Route 202 in Somers.

The proposed spending plan of $106 million is 5.2 percent higher than the current budget. District officials said they were focused on new instruction programs including more STEM and more support for moving student achievement levels toward pre-pandemic levels. There is also a decrease of 2.8 full-time staff positions due to a decrease in enrollment.

There are four candidates running for two available Board of Education seats. They are Dominick DeMartino, Patrick Varbero, Thomasine Mastrantoni and Daryl Mundis.

There will also be a proposition on the ballot to approve using up to $7 million from the 2022 capital reserve fund for capital projects.

The tax levy is expected to rise just 2.8 percent, which is below the state's tax cap. The tax rate increase is 1.97 percent.

In the Lakeland school district, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Van Cortlandtville Elementary School, 3100 E. Main St. in Mohegan Lake.

The proposed spending plan of $184.5 million is 5.05 percent higher than the current budget. District officials said they were focused on maintaining all current curricular, co-curricular and interscholastic programs.

There is also a proposition for vehicles. The district is asking for the voters to approve a bond up to $1,486,000 for the purpose of various school buses and vehicles.

Four candidates are running to fill three three-year positions on the Board of Education. They are incumbent Donald B. Pinkowsky, Christopher Eustace, Bryan Hoben and Michael Marx.