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Mineola board hears $112.2 million budget plan, $1.6M middle school conversion and $4M capital-reserve proposal
Summary
District staff presented the 2025-26 proposed $112,197,493 budget, including a $1.6 million transfer to convert middle school spaces and a $4 million use of the capital reserve for turf, roof and art-room repairs; Proposition 2 will go to voters on May 20.
The Mineola Union Free School District Board of Education on Monday reviewed the proposed $112,197,493 budget for the 2025-26 school year and a set of capital projects that will appear as Proposition 2 on the May 20 ballot.
"Tonight, we're gonna focus specifically on equipment and capital expense," said Victor Herman, a district staff member who presented the budget slides. The proposal would seek a maximum tax levy increase of 2.08 percent and a budget-to-budget increase of roughly 2.41 percent, the presentation showed.
The district proposes three capital-related expenditures highlighted in the presentation: a $1.6 million transfer to capital within the operating budget to convert the Mineola Middle School gym into a cafeteria and kitchen and convert the existing cafeteria and kitchen back into academic space; roughly $600,000 in equipment purchases for furniture, instruments and building needs; and a $4 million withdrawal from the district's 2020–22 capital reserve, to be presented to voters as Proposition 2.
Herman said the equipment and capital items represent a small share of total spending but are long-lived investments. "These expenses are unique. These fixes will last years, if not decades. Hopefully decades," he said.
Proposition 2 as described in the presentation bundles three projects: extending the renovated softball field approach to the district's baseball field (synthetic turf, dugouts, lighting and related infrastructure); replacing a deteriorating section of roof over the middle-school auditorium (including removal of old skylight and vents); and rebuilding the below-grade area ways and steps that serve the art rooms, which the presentation called a safety and accessibility concern.
Dr. Magler, a district staff member who addressed the roof details during the presentation, described the skylight area as a longstanding leak: "That is a ancient fire damper skylight... So that is leaking like a sieve right now, and needs to be demolished," Dr. Magler said.
District leaders emphasized the capital-reserve withdrawal is tax-neutral because the revenue has already been raised and set aside. The board discussion noted the item is "simply asking for permission to spend" previously collected capital-reserve funds, and that the transfer and reserve use are part of a multi-year infrastructure plan intended to avoid new debt.
Other numerical items the presentation cited: a proposed equipment allocation just under $600,000, a $1.6 million transfer to capital for the middle-school conversion (within the operating budget), and a $4,000,000 proposed use of the capital reserve. The district also said roughly 80 percent of the operating budget is for salaries and benefits.
Herman closed by noting next steps in the budget calendar: a public budget hearing with a line‑by‑line review and the districtwide vote on May 20 at Synergy, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The presentation included photos and schematic layouts of the middle-school spaces to show how the cafeteria and classroom footprints would change if voters approve the transfer and Proposition 2.
