Many residents of the Mineola School District went to the polls and passed the proposed budget for the 2006-2007 school year. The vote followed the trend throughout Long Island and voters turned out in larger numbers than usual as the Mineola budget passed by a total of 1,829 to 1,415.

"I'm very happy for the kids in Mineola," said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Larry Licopoli.

In presenting the proposed budget in the weeks prior to the budget vote, the district and the board presented the proposed budget and made it known to the community what would have to be cut if the board adopted a contingency budget as it did last year when the proposed budget failed. Dr. Licopoli believes that communication helped in informing residents and perhaps getting more to the polls. If the budget failed and the board opted to adopt a contingency budget, $1,090,000 in cuts would have needed to be made. Expected to be part of those cuts were K-12 intramurals, pre-kindergarten and late bus runs.

"It helped communicate what the options were that the board was grappling with in terms of if this budget was to fail. I think that clarity helped in extent of having people come out to vote," the superintendent said.

As a result of the successful budget vote, the district can say goodbye to contingency. The district's programs included pre-kindergarten have been preserved for another year. But perhaps, more importantly, the successful budget vote gives the district something to build on. However, cost-cutting measures will most likely continue if the district wants to see its budget pass in the future. "I think the fiscal responsibilities the board has will continue to be a major goal," said Dr. Licopoli.

Moving forward, the superintendent said some goals are going to be improving student achievement with particular focus on improving reading scores, maintaining the district's capital planning and rolling out the district's five-year financial planning protocol, which takes into account what the impact of every financial decision made today will be five years from now.

In addition to voting for the budget, residents were also asked to elect two trustees. Voters opted to return incumbents Steve Siwinski and John McGrath to the board, although challengers Will Hornberger and Bryan Bradley put up a good fight. Siwinski edged Hornberger by 69 votes and McGrath edged Bradley by 81 votes.