Wednesday, June 18, 2025
The Hewlett-Woodmere and Lawrence school district 2025-26 budgets both passed on Tuesday night.
In a contested race for two Lawrence trustee seats, Tova Rosenfeld was elected for the first-time, with 1,399 votes, and David Sussman was re-elected to a three-year term, with 1,996. Running unopposed, Tova Plaut was re-elected to her fifth term with 2,143 votes.
Rosenfeld aims to address concerns about various issues affecting the district.
“I am running to help address concerns and find solutions that benefit the community, issues like the delay in restarting pre-K busing, the seawall project and the purchase of a house next to the primary school for $625k have raised questions about transparency and fiscal responsibility,” Rosenfeld wrote in an email.
The $104.5 million school budget for the Lawrence school district passed with 1,698 votes.
The 2025-26 budget includes a 2.55 percent spending increase from the current $101.99 million fiscal plan.
In Hewlett-Woodmere, incumbent Trustees Debbi Sheinin and Chana Jeter ran unopposed for new three-year terms, and won 1,206 and 1,383 votes, respectively.
The $143.1 million school budget for Hewlett-Woodmere passed with 1,148 votes.
There is a 1.75 percent tax levy increase over the current fiscal plan and spending will increase by just under $4.6 million, a 3.31 percent increase over the current budget.
