You can watch the ballot count live via the district's YouTube page beginning at 5 pm on June 16, 2020. 

Update as of June 8, 2020
Governor Cuomo has issued an executive order extending the deadline for voters to submit their ballots in the district’s annual budget vote and election until Tuesday, June 16, 2020. Please note that ballots may be hand delivered to a secured lockbox at district office through 5 pm on Tuesday, June 9, 2020, after which time ballots will no longer be received in person. The location of district office is 240 Mastic Beach Road, Mastic Beach, NY, 11951. Ballots sent by mail must be received by Tuesday, June 16, 2020.

"Any receptacle used for hand delivery of absentee ballots in such election shall be closed and removed at 5 p.m. on June 9, 2020," the order states. "The ballots therein shall remain unopened pending delivery of mailed ballots, and shall be removed and canvassed after 5 p.m. on June 16, 2020."

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ANNUAL BUDGET HEARING
The annual budget hearing will be held on Tuesday, June 2, 2020, at 6 pm via WebEx. The call-in number and the access code are below. Please note that long-distance charges may apply. Please check with your service provider.

Call-in: 1-408-418-9388
Access Code: 716 411 161

ABSENTEE BALLOTS
IMPORTANT: Please note that the absentee ballot envelope must be signed and dated in order to be counted.

Click here for "Instructions for Voting" in English and Spanish.

If you did not receive an absentee ballot by Tuesday, June 2, 2020, please email district clerk Carolyn Visintin at cvisintin@wfsd.k12.ny.us and provide your name and address. She can also be reached at (631) 874-1117.

A sample ballot and a Q & A are below!

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Originally posted on May 22, 2020 at 2:48 pm

QUESTION & ANSWER

At its May 21, 2020, meeting, the Board of Education adopted the budget proposal for the 2020-2021 school year. This budget cycle has been rife with challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic which has impacted the state budget, and, as a result, aid that school districts will receive.

Governor Cuomo has already reduced the amount of state aid promised to the William Floyd School District from his original proposal by $5 million, which is devastating to our district. William Floyd has little commercial wealth (businesses to help offset taxes) and is a district that relies heavily on state aid (approximately 50% state aid/approximately 50% tax levy).

This year’s budget cycle has additional uncertainty as the governor now has the authority to make rolling reductions throughout the school year based on state revenue. To deal with these devastating reductions, the district  will use a mix of reserves and a well-below-the-maximum allowable tax levy; the district will also use savings through attrition (retirements, resignations, etc.) and many smaller reductions across the district, to save programs and jobs while being sensitive to residents and not decimating the programming opportunities for students.

Below is a list of questions and answers.

Please click here for the May 21, 2020, budget adoption presentation.

What is this year’s budget proposal?
This 2020-2021 budget proposal is $245,606,611, a budget-to-budget decrease of 0.30% over the 2019-20 budget.

What is the estimated tax rate increase?
The estimated tax rate increase is 1.50%, which is well below the allowable maximum tax cap levy of 3.49% for William Floyd. (Again, 3.49% is what is allowed by law for WFSD, the BOE is proposing 1.50%).

How much will it cost?
This budget proposal will increase taxes $92.26 per year for the average assessed home of $1,995. That equals to $1.75 per week or $0.25 cents per day.

Why are taxes being increased if the overall budget is less than last year?
This is due to the reduction of the amount of state aid that the district will receive. Any amount of state aid reduced by the government, has to be made up in either taxes or with reductions to programs or jobs.

What happens if the budget fails?
There is no clear guidance from the state about a budget re-vote or if one is even possible. If this budget proposal is voted down, it would require a reduction of the tax levy of an additional $1,525,471 to equal the 2019-20 approved budget. Further reducing the budget by more than $1.5 million will cause substantial changes to the educational programmatic offerings and likely include personnel reductions. Additionally, under a contingent budget, the district cannot provide public use of facilities by law.

How will the budget be held?
Voting will be held by absentee ballot. Registered voters will receive a postage paid ballot in the mail by May 29, 2020, and must be returned by June 9, 2020 at 5 pm.

When is the budget hearing?
The budget hearing will take place on June 2, 2020 at 6 pm, via WebEx. Participatory information will be forthcoming. Additionally, budget notices will be mailed to each home in the district on June 3. (By law ballots must be mailed after the budget hearing, which is scheduled for June 2).

Are there Board of Education trustee seats up for election?
Yes, two seats are up for election with a three-year term. Voting is by seat.

• Trustee Robert Taiani is running for re-election unopposed.
• Two candidates are vying for the seat of Jeananne Dawson, longtime Board of Education trustee, who passed away in office on September 26, 2019. The candidates vying for the seat listed alphabetically are: Angelo Cassarino and Andrew Schildkraut.

Click here for a bio of all three candidates published in the Long Island Advance.

All qualified voters of the William Floyd Union Free School District will be sent an absentee ballot together with a postage-paid return envelope and instructions for completing the same. To be counted, all completed absentee ballots must be received in the office of the district clerk by 5 pm on June 9, 2020. A qualified voter is a person who is a citizen of the United States, at least 18 years of age, a resident of the district for at least 30 days prior to the date of the election, and who is not otherwise ineligible to vote under the provisions of section 5-106 of the Election Law. 

The Board of Registration will meet in the district office at the William Floyd High School, on Thursday, May 28, 2020, between the hours of 9 am and 5 pm, prevailing time, for the purpose of registering qualified voters of the district to vote at the election. Potential voters can also register with the Board of Elections by filing an online application with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) which will enable the district to identify the qualified voter and transmit an absentee ballot to the voter for this election. The online DMV voter registration information can be accessed at this link.

If you have any questions about the budget, please email budget@wfsd.k12.ny.us. 

Click here for a legal alert from the New York State School Boards Association regarding ballot privacy.

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