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Auburn school district ballots are counted at the district offices on Tuesday.
Auburn school district ballots are counted at the district offices on Tuesday.
Following a state-mandated shift to mail-in ballots for school district budget votes and board elections, Cayuga County-area school districts saw a dramatic increase in voter participation in 2020.
Districts across the state were busy tallying votes Tuesday night once the 5 p.m. deadline arrived for ballots to be received by mail. Among eight Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES component districts reporting results so far, all saw their budget proposals get voter approval. Only the Moravia Central School District had not reported results to the public as of early Wednesday morning.
School district voting is normally held in May but was originally pushed to June 9 earlier this year under an executive order from Gov. Andrew Cuomo in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The governor also directed that all eligible voters be mailed absentee ballots. Earlier this month, Cuomo extended the deadline with another order, saying districts had to accept ballots received through U.S. mail until 5 p.m. June 16.
Absentee ballots for districts with the Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES region were sent out with an oath envelope and a postage-paid return envelope. On Tuesday night, ballots had to be opened, verified and shuffled before the counting could start using machines.
The most daunting vote-counting challenge locally belonged to the Auburn Enlarged City School District. Superintendent Jeff Pirozzolo said that by around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, around 5,100 returned ballots had already been validated. A year ago 1,742 voters cast ballots in the Auburn district.
Appearing around 1 a.m. on the district's live video feed that had been showing ballot counting all night, Pirozzolo announced that the district's budget proposal was passed with a 3,801-1,492 vote. A special proposition to establish a student representative on the board of education also earned overwhelming support. In addition, the three incumbent board of education candidates won re-election. Eli Hernandez had the most votes with 3,829, followed by Rhoda Overstreet-Wilson (3,631) and Joseph Sheppard (3,547). Challenger Patrick Mahunik came up short with 3,287 votes.
In an interview earlier Tuesday, Pirozzolo said he wasn't surprised by the large response, citing the convenience of receiving an absentee ballot with a postage-paid return envelope.
"I think it's a lot easier for our voters to be able to do that, they don't actually have to show to the building, they receive the ballot, they fill it in, put it right back in their mailbox and go," he said.
Pirozzolo added that he believed people are concerned about their individual economic situations due to the outbreak and that due to parents teaching their children at home with the support of teachers and the district over the last tree months, community members have become more aware of school issues, especially the school budget vote.
Pirozzolo wasn't sure what to expect from the results of the vote on the proposed budget, which would include a 1.67% tax levy increase if passed. He said there is a lot of support for the district, but noted the amount of people unemployed and laid off have gone up in the wake of the pandemic.
"During these times and struggles and hardships that our community is facing, I just don't know," Pirozzolo said.
The first district to post results on Tuesday night was the Weedsport Central School District, which saw its budget approved by a vote of 815-298. A year ago, Weedsport's budget vote total was 444. In addition to the budget's passage, the district's voters also approved measures to purchase a school bus and the tax levy for the community library. Board of Education President Norm Chirco, running unopposed, was re-elected.
After 310 budget votes were counted in 2019 in the Union Springs Central School District, the proposed spending plan before residents this year was approved by an 806-175 vote. Student transportation vehicle purchases were supported, and the school board vote tallies were reported with Daniel Testa getting 793 votes, followed by Ann Marie Daum (792), Erin Tones (777) and Mary Seitz (765). The district this year had three full-term seats open and one partial term seat.
In the Cato-Meridian Central School District, the proposed budget passed with 480 votes in favor and 152 against. A year ago, 355 budget votes were cast. Also receiving approval on Tuesday was the district's proposition to purchase buses and a pickup truck. In a race to fill two board seats, Paul Byrne (367 votes) and Jason Hirvela (350) were the winners, followed by Justin Reeves (298) and Nicholas Schmitt (185).
The Skaneateles Central School District's budget received voter approval, 1,937-628, a large jump in turnout from the 539 votes reported a year ago. The district's two propositions, one to buy four student transport vehicles and one to establish a capital reserve fund, also both passed easily. Gary Gerst (1,436 votes) and Daniel Evans (1,397) won the two open board of education seats, with Michelle Ederer (1,108), Valerie Jerabeck (563) and Ezra Wegbreit (419) coming up short.
The Southern Cayuga Central School District budget proposal was adopted with a 791-293 vote. In 2019, just 372 votes for the budget were recorded. All three of the district's special propositions — a capital project, vehicle purchases and support for the Aurora Free and Hazard libraries — also won approval. Christine Brozon received 918 votes and Rachel McCarthy 886 as they both won board of education seats in a race that wasn't contested.
Turnout surged from 338 votes in the Port Byron Central School District, where voters approved the 2020-21 budget with 519 votes in favor and 374 opposed. A school bus purchase also was approved, and three uncontested board seats were secured by Paul Ryan (709 votes), Benjamin Vitale (695) and Peter Svitavsky (629).
Port Byron Superintendent Neil O'Brien said that during conference calls he's attended, superintendents throughout the state noted high participation rates. Administrators weren't sure how that turnout could impact the results. Last year, voters overwhelmingly approved all of the nine proposed budgets within the Cayuga County BOCES region.
O'Brien said he views budget votes through a financial lens, since it includes the district's spending amount for the next year and its property tax increase, and as validation for how he and the school board have run the district. While O'Brien said he was optimistic heading into Tuesday night, adding that he felt the district has done "pretty remarkable work for the community and our students" over the course of the pandemic, he still didn't know what the results would look like. He noted the district has put the same tax levy increase — 1.2% — in front of taxpayers for multiple years.
"On some level, you do take the vote personally because in some ways it's a part of a broad look at evaluating how effective of a superintendent and school board you are," he said. "And if you're not gaining support from the community, then something is definitely awry."
In the Jordan-Elbridge Central School District, budget votes more than tripled from the 2019 total of 378. District voters this year approved the proposed spending plan, 1,057-164. Three uncontested open board of education seats were secured by Lisa Long (1,026 votes), Susan M. Fordyce (939) and Gage Moulding (902).
Staff writer Kelly Rocheleau can be reached at (315) 282-2243 or kelly.rocheleau@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @KellyRocheleau.
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Cayuga County-area school district budgets approved with heavy voter turnout - Auburn Citizen
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