This article was originally published in Kaleidoscope‘s April 2025 print edition. It is being published as a separate online article now for easy access.
The 2025-26 budget has placed significant financial pressure on the Three Village Central School District, as major increases in costs and expenditures have stretched funds to a breaking point. Contractual salaries rose $6.1 million, which was expected, but an additional $5.3 million was added to expenses through an escalation in health insurance prices. Combined, these heightened expenses have left little room for nearly all other budget items.
To maintain all current staff and programs in Three Village, the district would need to install a budget with a tax increase of 7.1%, well above the 2025-2026 tax cap of 2.78%. A plan with this overreach would need a historically unlikely 60% supermajority vote in favor to pass. Faced with this reality, the Board of Education (BOE) — composed of President Susan Rosenzweig, Vice President Karen Roughley, and trustees Dr. Stanley Bak, Dr. Jeffrey Kerman, Dr. Shaorui Li, Dr. David McKinnon and Vincent Vizzo — has planned significant reductions to areas throughout the district to create a budget compliant with the cap. During the BOE meeting on April 9, the Board presented a budget within the tax cap for the upcoming school year, which will be decided upon through a vote on Tuesday, May 20.
The Board plans to reduce expenditures by phasing out several clubs and programs within the district. These cost-saving procedures include a $123,000 cut in the Summer Math and Reading program and the elimination of clubs with fewer than 15 members.
A particularly controversial measure taken to downsize spending is the elimination of the Intellectually Gifted (IG) program at the 4th grade level. Factoring in salary costs and transportation, this cut would save the district roughly $200,000. This decision, which was announced abruptly via email after families had already received the program’s entrance exam scores, received strong opposition from parents and students at the Board meeting on April 9.
Throughout the year, the decade-long campaign to push back school start times seemed to be drawing to a close as the Board discussed the implementation of a 35 minute delay in start times at the high school, an adjustment welcomed by many in the community. At first, the $1.1 million cost of this change was factored into the budget. However, the Board voted to scrap this figure at the meeting on April 9 in order to give more room to fund existing programs.
Superintendent Dr. Kevin Scanlon said that a priority with the removal of start time expenses would be to restore elementary class sizes, which were expected to increase to around 27 students per class as a result of the planned staff reductions at both the elementary and secondary levels. Restoring the full IG program or the Summer Math and Reading program are other possibilities.
Voters will decide whether to approve or reject the proposed budget amount, although the specific programs that will be cut or included continue to be in flux. If the budget is struck down, the Board can either put the same budget up for a revote, put a revised budget up for a second vote, or head straight to a contingency plan, where total spending levels would be the same as the 2024-25 year. If the budget is put up for a second vote and fails, then the Board must form a contingency budget, necessitating millions more in program and staffing cuts.
Eligible voters can participate in the budget vote on Tuesday, May 20 from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Ward Melville High School. A public information meeting and budget hearing will be held on Wednesday, May 13 at 7 p.m. at the North Country Administration Building. Early voting is also available. Absentee ballot and early mail ballot applications can be obtained from the Three Village website or the North Country Administration Building at 100 Suffolk Avenue in Stony Brook between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., with application deadlines beginning May 14. Residents should contact district clerk Inger Germano with questions.
