School board election will have no challenges
There will be four candidates for four open seats on the Beacon school board when voters go to the polls on May 17 to elect trustees and decide on a budget proposal for 2022-23 that includes $76.9 million in spending.
Meredith Heuer and Antony Tseng will be unopposed for re-election, while Yunice Heath and Alena Kush are newcomers. The three candidates who receive the most votes will serve three-year terms (including the seat of Elissa Betterbid, who did not seek re-election) and the fourth candidate will serve two years and six weeks beginning May 17 to complete the term of Jasmine Johnson, who resigned on April 1.
Heuer and Tseng are seeking their third terms. Kush is director of parent engagement at Mount Saint Mary College and president of the Rombout Middle School PTO. Heath is an access/equity counselor for Dutchess Community College.
Voters also will consider a budget that is 2.2 percent higher than 2021-22. That is lower than projections from early April, before the district received an additional $466,000 in state aid. If the budget is approved, the tax levy would increase by 3.7 percent, short of the state-mandated 3.87 percent cap for the district.
In addition, the ballot will include measures to allow the district to spend up to $546,000 on buses and to create a capital reserve fund of up to $15 million.
