Three transportation propositions also approved by voters
By a vote of 666-196, or 77 percent approval, Beacon City School District voters on Tuesday (May 16) passed a budget of $81,340,700, which will increase the tax levy by 3.64 percent, the amount permitted by Beacon’s state-mandated tax cap. The turnout was 5 percent.
The budget includes four new positions at Rombout Middle School — a social worker, a world language (Italian) teacher, a reading teacher to support students not meeting grade-level standards and a part-time music teacher. In addition, funding for an additional preschool teacher will allow the district to expand its pre-K program to each of its four elementary schools.
The district estimates that property taxes will increase $135 per year for a home valued at $300,000 in Beacon; $168 per year for a home in Fishkill; and $199 per year for a home in Wappingers Falls.
There were three other propositions on the ballot, to allow the district to: (1) spend up to $530,000 to purchase three 72-passenger buses and a van, which passed 644-220; (2) spend up to $466,000 on an electric school bus, as long as it receives grants of up to $250,000, which passed 570-295; and (3) provide transportation to students who live more than a mile from their school (the current limit is 1.5 miles), at a cost of about $10,000, which passed 684-177.
There were four open seats on the nine-member school board, and four candidates: Anthony White and Kristan Flynn, who were seeking their fourth and third terms, respectively, and newcomers Semra Ercin and Eric Schetter. Craig Wolf did not seek re-election to a third term.
The three candidates who received the most votes, Schetter (696), Flynn (678) and White (639), will each serve a 3-year term. Ercin (607) will complete the final two years of the term of Antony Tseng, who resigned in March.
The other members of the board are Meredith Heuer (whose term ends in 2025), Flora Stadler (2024), Alena Kush (2025), John Galloway Jr. (2024) and Yunice Heath (2024).
