Shelter Island, Elwood school districts' second budgets approved by voters

In two school districts that tried — and failed — to pierce their tax caps last month, residents approved smaller budgets Tuesday that scale back spending on summer school, preschool and other services.

The revised budgets for the Elwood and Shelter Island school districts both passed Tuesday, according to spokespersons for each district.

The Elwood 2025-26 budget passed 1,700 to 674, a district spokesperson said in an email to Newsday, adding: "The district thanks the community for voting."

Voters on Shelter Island approved the school's revamped budget 502-125.

The Elwood school district sought permission to exceed its tax cap, so its budget required the approval of a 60% supermajority of voters. It passed with 71.61% approval. The Shelter Island district brought its budget under the cap, so it needed a simple majority.

At the Elwood Middle School polling site, one voter, Maegan Roseto, told Newsday Tuesday morning that she supported the district's revised proposal. 

"I have three children in the district," Roseto said." It's important to me that class sizes be maintained and that they have a lot of resources available to them." 

Another voter, Jennifer Riek, voiced concern that Elwood was still seeking to override its cap. 

"I understand, but it's asking a lot," Riek said. 

If either district’s budget had failed a second time, school officials would have been forced to adopt a budget with no school property tax levy increase from the current year. In Shelter Island, a school official said last month that such an outcome would be "devastating."

In Elwood, a hamlet in the Town of Huntington, residents approved a $78,566,259 budget for the 2025-26 school year. The spending plan includes a 2.64% increase in the school property tax levy, higher than the district's state-imposed limit of 1.29%.

The previous, unsuccessful version of the budget included a school property tax increase of 4.2%. Elwood school officials have cut nearly $830,000 from the $79.4 million spending plan that failed.

The district’s superintendent of schools, Gayle Steele, said in a statement this month the revised spending plan "includes strategic reductions that take the community’s input on the initial proposal into consideration." The cuts included reductions in administrative and teaching positions as well as cocurricular clubs and academic intervention, and slight increases in some class sizes, school officials said.

In Shelter Island, voters approved a $13,298,131 spending plan that stays within the district’s 2.13% tax cap.

The previous, unsuccessful budget of $13.86 million included a school property tax increase of 6.97%. In a statement earlier this month, district officials said they "thoughtfully and thoroughly revised the proposal to bring the tax levy within the state tax cap." District officials cut more than $550,000 by removing the pre-K program for 3-year-olds and the general education summer school, and by reducing other expenses.

Kathleen Lynch, the Shelter Island school board president, said at a public meeting last month that it would be "absolutely devastating" to the district if the budget failed again.

Elwood and Shelter Island were the only Long Island districts where voters did not approve school budgets on May 20. In the two districts, 54% to 55% of residents who went to the polls last month voted in favor of the spending plans.

Newsday's John Hildebrand and Nicholas Grasso contributed to this story.

By Maura McDermott

maura.mcdermott@newsday.commauramcdermott

Maura McDermott covers education. Since joining Newsday in 2012, she also has worked on the investigations team and covered real estate and the business of health care.