Huge win for Shelter Island School District: Voters approve budget

Shelter Island voters gave the School District a resounding vote of confidence Tuesday, with 502 people approving the $13.285 million revised spending plan for the 2025-26 school year, to 125 who voted no. 

Two voters actually arrived at the school but left their ballots blank. There was a total of 629 ballots cast, School District Clerk Jacki Dunning said. 

Last month voters rejected the original budget proposal, which fell  40 votes short of the 60% needed to pass  because  it would have gone above the State-imposed tax cap. The tally then was 424 votes in favor of the spending plan, to 329 against.

Last month, Shelter Island, along with Elwood, was one of only two Long Island school districts to have their budget proposals rejected by the voters. Tuesday night Elwood voters, like those on the Island, voted in the affirmative to pass a revised budget.

The Shelter Island School Board reduced the original, rejected budget, by $556,443  to stay within the 2% State-mandated cap. This meant scrapping the school’s Pre-K3 program, layoff one popular elementary level teacher and institute cutbacks in hours of work for several others.

Despite the pain of a revised budget that required such cuts, Superintendent Brian Doelger, Ed.D., said  just moments after the votes were counted, “We are deeply grateful to the Shelter Island community for their overwhelming support of our budget.”

During the past several years, the administration and Board of Education have made “significant progress both academically and financially,” he added. “We remain committed to serving as the heart of Shelter Island, shaping a bright future for our students and/or community while maintaining strong fiscal responsibility.”

Although the original budget proposal pierced the tax cap, few think that’s why voters forced a re-vote. Board members blamed a Town budget that pierced the tax cap, and a property reassessment over which they have no control. Add to that a ballot that contained a proposition seeking $275,000 to support the Shelter Island History Museum — that also failed — and likely affected the tally for the school as well.

Following the announcement Tuesday night of the vote tally, Board President Kathleen Lynch said she’s “thrilled” with the re-vote results. “My faith is restored,” Ms. Lynch said. That the re-vote won by such a wide margin is proof the community knows the product the school puts out, she added.

Looking back at the rejection of the original budget, Ms. Lynch said she thinks there was a lot of false information circulating in the community, and much negativity about rising taxes.

With all but one Board of Education member absent Monday night, the group was optimistic and early on joked with one another and were very upbeat. But because paper ballots were used instead of a machine, the 40 minutes it took poll workers to count and recheck the numbers, the mood turned serious, no doubt with thoughts of what would happen if this re-vote failed.

If a second vote on a school budget fails, it forces adoption of a State-imposed “contingency budget” that gives the state control of spending and doesn’t allow any funds to be spent on equipment, regardless of the circumstances. The district’s  tax levy would have to be the same as it is for the current school year and there could be no use of school facilities by the community, unless such groups bore the full cost of renting the space. That could have blocked use of the FIT Center, the school play, and an end to using the venue for political forums or other meetings.