School budget revotes in 4 districts

The two neighboring school districts encompass some of the priciest real estate on Long Island's North Shore, home to rich-and-famous figures including entertainer Jennifer Lopez and Islanders owner Charles Wang.

Tax rates here are among the lowest in Nassau County.

Yet, Locust Valley and Oyster Bay-East Norwich are among just four districts out of 124 on the Island that are holding revotes on revised budgets Tuesday. Residents in both districts voted "no" on original proposed school budgets by narrow margins on May 17.

Tiny Fishers Island -- best known as a summer retreat for the rich -- also saw its spending plan go down last month. But school officials there decided against a revote, opting instead for a reduced contingency or "austerity" budget.

These districts, which rank among the Island's wealthiest, stumbled in trying to pass their budgets this year. The situation might seem counterintuitive given that far less-affluent districts with far heavier tax loads approved school spending plans at a near-record rate.

One reason, experts say, is that school elections, whether in districts of affluence or more-modest circumstances, often are swayed by local issues that outweigh purely economic factors. Fewer than 20 percent of voters typically participate in such elections, so an organized group -- say, a teachers' union or a senior-citizens' club -- can wield outsized influence.

"As Tip O'Neill would observe, all politics is local," said Lorraine Deller, executive director of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association, referring to the late speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts.

Locust Valley, for example, was the scene of a bruising school-board race in which three candidates backed by local teachers beat three incumbents. Among the losers was Ron Walsh, an outspoken Nassau police lieutenant who also sits on the regional school-board association's executive committee.

Meanwhile, Oyster Bay-East Norwich experienced a fight over the school administration's decision to withhold job tenure from a popular guidance counselor. At one meeting, tensions ran so high that police were on hand to ensure order.

Such quirks are not confined to affluent communities, of course. Seaford and Westbury, both largely middle-class districts, also faced local controversies earlier this spring and also will hold revotes on Tuesday.

Budget supporters hope that more parents will turn out to vote the second time around, rather than risk the "austerity" label.

"People can be very lackadaisical and just think the budget's going to pass," said Jeanne Zaino, who has a son in 11th grade at Locust Valley High School and serves as co-president of the school's Parents' Council. "Being out and about in the community, I found there were just so many people who didn't vote for one reason or another."

Locust Valley's first budget lost by 120 votes; Oyster Bay's by 34.

Residents active in local civic affairs say these losses seem due, in part, to sociological as well as political factors.

Neither Locust Valley nor Oyster Bay-East Norwich are uniformly rich, these observers note. Both districts have their business areas where professional and blue-collar workers live on quarter-acre lots, as well as their wooded estates for the wealthy. The former tend to rely on public schools; the latter on private academies.

In addition, observers say, some older residents accustomed to a no-frills schooling they experienced in their youth react skeptically when newcomers demand extra, costly services for their children.

Mike Rich, a lifelong resident known as "Mr. Oyster Bay" for his civic involvement, put it this way:

"You have the attitude in Oyster Bay among some of the older people, sure, these people move in and they'll vote for anything as long as it's for the kids. And as soon as their kids graduate, they'll move out and leave us holding the bag."

Rich added that he hopes such voters reconsider and help pass the revised budget Tuesday.

POLLING PLACES AND TIMES

LOCUST VALLEY 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Bayville Intermediate School, Brookville Reformed Church Community Hall and Ann MacArthur Primary School

OYSTER BAY-EAST NORWICH 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Oyster Bay High School in Oyster Bay

SEAFORD 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Seaford Manor Elementary School and Seaford Harbor Elementary School

WESTBURY 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Westbury Middle School, Drexel Avenue School, Park Avenue School and Dryden Street School