Manhasset approves $96M school budget, capital reserve fund

Amelia Camurati
Manhasset Board of Education Trustees Ann Marie Curd, left, and Carlo Prinzo were re-elected Tuesday in uncontested elections. (Photos courtesy of Manhasset school district)

Manhasset residents approved the school district’s capital reserve fund Tuesday as well as its $96 million budget and the re-election of two longstanding Board of Education trustees.

Assistant Superintendent of Business Rosemary Johnson said the current capital reserve fund, which was approved by voters in 2010, is nearing its $10 million funding limit and that the creation of a 2018 fund was important for continuing the district’s progress on capital projects.

The capital reserve fund, which can be funded up to $10 million, was approved with 995 votes in favor and 414 votes against.

Any spending of the potential $10 million, however, would require another public vote for approval, and the creation of the fund will not affect current or future budgets or tax levies, Johnson said.

A similar fund was aproved by voters in 2006.

The Manhasset school district’s $96,369,935 budget was also approved Tuesday, with 1,004 votes in favor and 412 votes against.

The budget includes a 2.64 percent increase from the current budget, with a rise of 2.99 percent in the tax levy — the highest allowable by the state.

Approximately 14,400 voters are registered in the district.

Trustees Ann Marie Curd and Carlo Prinzo were also re-elected Tuesday, with 1,091 votes for Curd and 1,065 votes for Prinzo. Both races were uncontested.

Curd has served six years on the board, and Prinzo has served 12. They have never been challenged.

“Overall, I think the board has the trust of the community,” Prinzo said. “This is my fifth election unopposed.”

Curd, alongside Trustee Pat Aitken, serves on the board’s policy committee and has been working her way through the pages of school district policies this school year — some for the first time in decades.

“We’ve done a lot of [reviews], and some haven’t been revised since the ‘90s,” Curd said. “Policy is one of the most important things we do, and it’s really important because it’s the law of the school. You want to be sure they’re updated and current, especially with changing technology and things.”

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