A crowded field of seven candidates is set for the May 20 Board of Education election in Massapequa.

Two seats are being contested on May 20. Up for re-election are current BOE members Christine Perrino and Richard Krebs. Both are running for another three-year term. Challengers for those seats are Stephen Archipolo, Gary Bennett, Leslie Dowell, Gary Slavin and Jane Ryan.

On Thursday, May 8, the Massapequa BOE will hold a budget hearing at 8 p.m. at Massapequa High School.

Thursday, May 15 is the last day for voter registration. A voter registration day will be held on Tuesday, May 13 from 4 to 8 p.m. at McKenna, Lockhart, and Fairfield Elementary Schools and at Massapequa High School. Applications for absentee ballots are available through the Office of the District Clerk.

On April 17, the Massapequa Board of Education unanimously adopted the proposed school budget for the 2008-09 school year.

The budget, as noted in last week's issue of the Massapequan Observer, calls for a 6.26 percent increase and a tax levy increase of 5.44 percent. Total spending for the proposed budget is $166,369,911. The total tax levy is $135,925,774.

The district's estimated 2008-09 reserved fund balance is $11,925,451, down from the $12,250,451 in last year's budget. The unreserved fund balance in the proposed budget stands at $3,396,278, up from the $3,146,278 that was in the 2007-08 document.

School officials also noted that the average school taxes in Massapequa are $5,128, itself $733 less than the average Nassau County taxes of $5,861. Spending increases for the district from 1990-91 to the 2005-06 school year, school officials added, average out to 9.85 percent, less than the county average of 11.69 percent and the New York State average of 34.34 percent. Meanwhile, state aid increases per pupil in that same period have decreased in Massapequa by 16.92 percent, while increasing in Nassau County by 23.52 percent and in New York State by a whopping 75.22 percent.

The May 20 vote will take place from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Voting locations are: Massapequa High School, Fairfield Elementary School, Lockhart Elementary School, and McKenna Elementary School.