While there will be two open seats on the school board when Lewiston-Porter Central School District residents head to the polls on May 19, there won’t be any candidates on the ballot.
Board President Joseph Palermo, whose term expires this year, decided not to seek re-election, while Chris Bragdon, who was elected last year, has resigned.
Interested candidates had to submit petitions with 25 signatures by 5 p.m. on April 15, but no one did. As a result, the winners will be the two individuals with the most write-in votes.
Superintendent Paul Casseri said this is the first time something like that has happened in his time with the district.
“We don’t know who’s going to be on the board,” he said. “It could be anybody.”
Board members are elected to serve a three-year term.
The school district’s budget is set to be $58.3 million, a 4.45% increase over this year’s spending plan. Of that amount, $31.7 million would come from taxes, with the levy increasing by 1.9%. Casseri said the district plans to maintain all its programs for the coming school year.
The rise is largely due to debt servicing, employee salaries and benefits, and the escalating costs of equipment, supplies, gas for buses and running special education classes.
The district is slated to receive $20.4 million in various forms of state aid, a nearly $1.4 million increase from the previous year. Their primary source of aid, foundation aid, accounts for $11 million, an increase of $202,816. Casseri said the state still considers the district low-need since its overall enrollment has declined by 25% to 30% over the past 20 years and it is not in a particularly economically disadvantaged area, even as its number of students in low socioeconomic conditions has gone up 300% in the past two decades.
The budget would also be funded through $2.77 million of other revenues like PILOT agreements, interest, and unclassified revenue.
With the continued enrollment decreases and the area’s aging tax base, Casseri does see potential budget deficits happening within the next five to 10 years.
“If we have less revenue coming in and more expenditures, there will be a breaking point,” Casseri said. He noted the district has been working with its unions to set more realistic expectations for employee benefits.
The ongoing property reassessments in the Towns of Lewiston and Porter do not impact this year’s district budget, though the newly assessed rates will be applied to school taxes starting this September.
The district will also ask voters to start a new capital reserve for a new district capital project. That would enable the district to set aside up to $6 million in funds if they are available.
That project, subject to another district vote in 2028, would renovate the auditoriums in the art and music wings in the high school and intermediary school, upgrade the art and music wings, and renovate the baseball and softball diamonds, including turning the grass field into turf. The district is looking to break ground in 2029.
Casseri said the field renovations are needed because most other schools in the region play on turf fields, which are easier to maintain.
“Right now, students cannot play on the fields because they are so wet,” Casseri said.