Incumbents re-elected to Mineola ed board

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Talty thanked the residents who voted, district staff and the PTAs for the Meet the Candidates night.

“I want to thank everybody that has come out to vote… I’d like to thank our district clerk, Linda Spagnola, for putting together a very smooth, easy-to-vote [system], and all of the hardworking poll workers here in [the Synergy Building] at Mineola High School,” Talty said during the Tuesday night board of education meeting before polls closed. “I’d also like to thank the District Council PTAs for putting together the Meet the Candidates night. It was a privilege for Dr. Ballantyne and I to meet with a very well-attended turnout, and to share our thoughts on where we’d like to go in the next three years here in the district.”

Ballantyne-Mannion, who has served three full terms, is a Spanish professor at York College and earned a Ph.D. from Brown University in Hispanic studies. She has lived in Mineola since 1972, and she and her husband, Luke Mannion, have been active in the local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

Talty, who has served two terms, is an architect with Upton-based Brookhaven National Laboratory. Prior to his time on the board, Talty coached youth soccer and lacrosse in the district and served as a member of the PTA.

The $109.7 million budget passed with 637 of 795 total votes, or 80.13%.

The budget is a 0.32% decrease in spending from the current year. The tax levy increase is 1%, which falls below the statemandated tax levy increase of 1.74%.

The district’s average tax levy increase over the past decade is 1.11%, according to the budget newsletter.

Based on district enrollment numbers from the 2022-2023 school year, Mineola would be spending $38,140.11 per pupil according to the budget.

Included in the budget is a $4 million transfer to the capital reserve fund for fire safety upgrades at Jackson Avenue School and Mineola Middle School, a new public address system at the middle school, districtwide roof and HVAC repairs.

State aid amounts to $13.8 million, a $2.75 million, or 24.9% increase from the current year’s state aid of $11.05 million.

At this time, the district has about $8.5 million in the budget for capital projects.

Trustees said during the March 21 board of education meeting the current middle school project at the gymnasium will be completed for $8 million instead of the previous estimate of $8.5 million.

The remaining $500,000 would be used for the Synergy Building cafe and parking lot project, which began on March 17.

Educational highlights include expanding the district’s technology program and beginning the phase-in of dual language standalone curriculum for primary grades.