Rockville Centre voters approved the district budget this year and re-elected trustees in the annual vote, the superintendent reported during the May 29 Board of Education meeting. The board also accepted three community gifts and offered public recognition to newly tenured staff and retirees.

"We just wanted to, send our sincere appreciation to the entire community for supporting this year's budget. We successfully passed our budget this year," Superintendent Patrick Gavin said during an early meeting update.

The board accepted three gifts: a PTA consortium gift to fund the AIMS arts program described in the meeting as "$94,791 and $30.35 cents," a $462 donation from the Ryan Patrick O’Shea Foundation to buy supplies for a Sources of Strength day, and $73,988 from the Rockville Centre Education Foundation for spring grants across the district. The board moved to accept the gifts and the chair called for the vote; a voice vote recorded "Aye." The meeting record includes a formal motion to accept the gifts with a second and a board voice vote in favor.

The meeting included a ceremonial recognition of tenured staff across district buildings and remarks honoring retirees and long-serving staff. The board passed a motion regarding agenda item T17 (recognitions) with a voice vote of "Aye." The details of tenure were read aloud by administrators and the board took a group photograph with honorees.

Why it matters: community donations fund classroom programs and extracurricular activities not fully covered by the operating budget, while tenure and retirements signal personnel changes that affect staffing and institutional memory.

Next steps: funds accepted as gifts will be processed through the district’s finance office and used for the purposes described by donors; tenure and retirements will be reflected in personnel records and building staffing plans.