The Farmingdale Board of Education on Tuesday elected a new president and vice-president, and resolved to present a multi-million dollar bond proposal to the public for a vote in the fall.

During the district's annual reorganization meeting, Trustee Anthony Vitale was elected president of the board, replacing trustee Josephine Macchia, who served two consecutive one-year terms at the helm. Trustee Robert Guarino was elected vice-president, replacing outgoing trustee William Barrett, who also served two-consecutive one-year terms as a leader of the body and decided not to run for re-election for school board member back in May.

Incoming school board members Jane Schriro Rubinstein and Marie Colalucci, who were elected May 19, were also sworn in to fill the trustee seats vacated by Barrett and Troy Rosasco.

After months of discussion, the board also set $38,544,320 as the figure for a bond proposal to be presented to the public in the fall, pending New York State Education Department approval. Fifty seven point five percent of that figure is expected to be reimbursed to the district through state building aid, yielding a net cost to the district's taxpayers of $16,381,336, according to Barbara Horsley, assistant superintendent for administration and transportation.

The district is planning to use the bond to finance such projects as full-day kindergarten, smaller class sizes at the elementary level, moving the district's sixth graders from the elementary schools to the middle school, including construction needed to do that, and some reconstruction to accommodate enrollment growth at the high school, as well as necessary facility and field repairs, noted Horsley.

Oct. 19 was set as the date of the public vote on the bond proposal, providing that the district receives state approval of the measure. "All this has to be sent to the state, and they have to approve it before you can move forward, but the plan is for the vote to be in the third week of October - Oct. 19," said Horsley.

In accordance with law regarding bond repayment, the district expects the approximately $38 million bond to be repayed over a 20-year period.

As noted by a memorandum prepared by Dr. William Fanning, assistant superintendent for business, the average annual net estimated debt service would be approximately $1.35 million.

For year one, the net payment would be $1,351,500, with Town of Oyster Bay residents contributing $1,071,566 and Town of Babylon residents paying $279,934 in bond payment related tax. According to the memorandum, the estimated annual tax impact for a home assessed at $6,000 in Oyster Bay and a similar home assessed at $4,051 in Babylon would be: Oyster Bay - $88.20 per year; Babylon - $80.20 per year.