What you need to know for Tuesday's school election and budget voting
A woman arrives to cast her vote for the school budget at the Tuckahoe School in Tuckahoe in 2016. Credit: Randee Daddona
Q: When is the budget vote?
Q: When is the budget vote?
A: Tuesday. Polling times vary among districts; check your district's hours in the Voters Guide included in Sunday's Newsday.
Q: Which school year will this budget cover?
Q: Which school year will this budget cover?
A: The 2021-22 fiscal school year, running from July 1 to June 30, 2022.
Q: What changes have been made in the voting process?
Q: What changes have been made in the voting process?
A: Most voting will be in-person at school polls, unlike last year, when everyone voted by absentee ballot due to high risks of COVID-19 infection. Last year for the first time, absentee ballots were mailed to voters automatically. This year, procedures are back to normal, with absentee ballots provided only upon request. Voters this year still may cite COVID-19 as a reason for securing an absentee ballot, along with reasons traditionally cited such as business or vacation travel.
Q: Are masks required for in-person voting?
Q: Are masks required for in-person voting?
A: Yes.
Q: When will we know results?
Q: When will we know results?
A: District officials typically expect to complete counts of balloting on budgets and board candidates the same day as voting. Last year's counts took two to three days, due to extra time required by absentee ballots.
Q: Districts recently received millions of dollars in extra federal and state aid, much of it in the form of pandemic relief funding. Will this mean lower taxes?
Q: Districts recently received millions of dollars in extra federal and state aid, much of it in the form of pandemic relief funding. Will this mean lower taxes?
A: Most districts continue to propose higher taxes this year, though in many cases not as high as they envisioned a few months ago. A newly added provision in U.S. law bans states from using federal aid to reduce taxation, either directly or indirectly. More than a dozen states, not including New York, have filed lawsuits seeking to block that restriction.
John Hildebrand is Newsday's senior education writer and has covered school news and policy issues affecting Long Island for more than 40 years.
