Three Village Central School District unveils revised budget; vote set for June 16

Dr. Scalin, presenter for the Three Village Central School District, said the board revised its budget and scheduled a public vote for June 16 at Ward Melville High School, urging community turnout.

The district reduced about $1.5 million from the original proposal, which Dr. Scalin said lowers the budget-to-budget increase from the earlier draft; under the revised plan he put the budget increase at about 2.2% and the tax-levy increase at about 3.49%, down from figures the district previously described as 2.87% and 4.54% respectively. "The net reduction from the original budget is a little over 1 and a half million dollars," he said.

Why it matters: the vote will determine whether the district implements the revised spending plan or shifts to a contingency budget that would require deeper cuts. Dr. Scalin warned that a defeated budget would immediately force the district to adopt a contingency budget, which would remove the $2.5 million capital allocation and could require more than $4 million in additional reductions for next year.

Key details from the district presentation included staffing and program changes the board retained or restored after the May 19 defeat. The district plans to keep previously enacted staffing reductions that included 21 teacher retirements, with 18 positions not being replaced; Dr. Scalin said those were handled through attrition. He said administration reductions totaled 13 positions (described in his remarks as a net reduction of nine in administrative roles) and provided percentage figures for cuts: roughly 21% in administration and about 17.4% in teacher positions.

At the same time, the board restored five elementary security-guard positions. "We put back in the 5 security guards at the elementary schools this year," Dr. Scalin said, adding the guards will serve the whole building rather than only the pre-K wing. The district also trimmed several budget lines to preserve instructional priorities and limited capital spending by reducing the capital plan to $2,500,000.

Class-size and enrollment context: Dr. Scalin said enrollment decline has slowed compared with the prior decade and disputed characterizations that the district is increasing staffing while enrollment falls. He acknowledged pockets of class-size concern and said the district has contingency plans if additional students enroll over the summer, particularly for special education and primary-grade levels.

Program restorations and additions highlighted by the presentation included restored STEAM instruction (a 4th-grade STEAM teacher was added this year with plans to expand to 5th grade), an Individual Research Project integrated into STEAM, expanded AP and CTE course offerings, and college-credit access; the district noted one student will graduate this year with an associate degree. The district also announced a donated Bloomberg Lab coming to Ward Melville High School and said it hopes to expand that program.

State aid and pre-K: Dr. Scalin said changes in state proposals increased UPK aid and foundation aid (he described a foundation-aid increase moving from 1% to 2%), which improved the district's aid picture. He also warned that state policy will require full-day pre-K in coming years and said the district must accommodate any child who seeks to enroll: "There'll be no more lotteries, and no more waiting lists," he said.

Capital repairs and reimbursements: the capital plan still targets cupola work at three buildings, repairs to a pool at Ward Melville High School and repairs to a gym that was damaged in a flood; Dr. Scalin said the district expects some insurance and FEMA reimbursement for flood-related repairs.

Next steps: voting is scheduled for June 16, with polls open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Ward Melville High School and early voting available. The district asked residents to participate in the vote; Dr. Scalin closed by thanking the community and saying, "We look forward to seeing you on June 16."