Long Beach school budget passes; Ryan and Vrona are elected

By a count of 3,865 to 1,441, residents approved the Long Beach School District’s $145 million budget for the 2020-21 school year on Tuesday night.

The spending plan is about $3 million larger than this year’s budget, and comes with a tax levy increase of 1.81 percent, which is below the state cap.

Incumbent Board of Education Trustees Dr. Dennis Ryan and Maureen Vrona were re-elected to three-year terms, defeating challengers Alexis Pace, Perry Bodnar and Pamela Banks. Ryan and Vrona garnered 2,762 and 2,182 votes, respectively, while Pace received 1,813, Bodnar, 1,692 and Banks, 845.

Ryan described the turnout as a “vote of confidence for the district and school board.” He said that the election was a more reliable estimate of community support, and added that it was nice to finally have closure and breathe a sigh of relief after Gov. Andrew Cuomo extended school board elections an extra week.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, Ryan said, it will be interesting to see how much state aid Albany offers next year. Early predictions are that it could be cut by as much as 20 percent. He added that it would be vital to have enough funding to meet students’ essential needs.

“I think the most important thing is keeping the integrity of the academics and doing it in a financially stable way,” Ryan said. The district is headed in the right direction, he said, and he urged the board to continue to maintain high standards when hiring administrators and staff.

Ryan also stressed the importance of “giving people a sense of hope and doing the right by parents and students, especially in a time like this.” He said the district must continue to “project hope and provide hope.”

“I want to thank the community for their support of myself and Dr. Ryan,” Vrona said. “I would also like to thank the community for their support of the Long Beach schools by overwhelmingly passing the budget. I appreciate the trust placed in me, and will do my best for the district.”

Many more voters participated this year, because the district was forced to send out absentee ballots amid the pandemic — an unfunded mandate that cost the district about $30,000, officials said at a school board meeting last month. There were 7,000 more votes for trustees than last year, when challenger Anne Conway defeated incumbent Bodnar, and 3,600 more than two years ago, when Sam Pinto and Tina Posterli won their seats on the board in a race that, like this year, had five candidates.

And according to Ryan, more than 500 additional ballots were not signed by residents and therefore not counted, which he described as “disappointing.”

No student activities were cut in the school spending plan, and a new junior varsity field hockey team, which was in danger of being eliminated, remains in the budget. Additionally, the district will not look to outsource its food services, which was a heated topic at a budget meeting in January.

Residents also approved the Long Beach Public Library’s $3.6 million budget, 4,065 to 1,135, and Robin Donovan was elected to the library board of trustees with 2,332 votes, defeating James Kirklin, who garnered 1,418. Trustee Barbara Mosca chose not to run for re-election.

The library budget includes no property tax increase.