School budget

Riverhead school district voters approved a $192 million spending plan for the 2023-2024 school year Tuesday by a vote of 1,333 to 769 — a margin of 63% to 37%.

The Riverhead Central School District is now expected to receive $76.1 million in state aid for the coming school year, an increase of $19.6 million — or 34.6% — over the current school year and about $8.8 million more than anticipated in the budget the school board adopted last month.

Riverhead Central School District voters will be asked to approve a 1% tax levy increase at the polls next month, to support a $192 million spending plan for the 2023-2024 school year.

A field of seven candidates will vie for four seats in next month's school board vote, but there's only one incumbent among them.

The Riverhead school district administration this week presented a 2023-2024 budget that has a projected $8.9 million gap. The district's business official said the gap will be closed before the Board of Education adopts the budget that will be put on the ballot for voter approval May 16.

The school board last week had a presentation of the administrations proposals for the general support and debt service aspects of the 2023-2024 budget.

Editorial: The budget proposed by Riverhead school officials is fiscally conservative, while satisfying the educational and social needs of our children, thanks in part to long-overdue increases in state education aid. This budget deserves the community’s support and we urge you to vote “yes” on Tuesday.

The three school board candidates made pitches for election at Tuesday night's school board meeting, after a public hearing on the proposed budget that drew little public comment. The budget vote and board election take place May 17.

The Riverhead Central School District will host two budget presentations in the upcoming weeks to field questions from the community in advance of the 2022-2023 budget hearing and vote.

The Riverhead Board of Education Tuesday night adopted a $169.7 million proposed operating budget for the 2022-2023 school year. The budget is a 6.5% spending increase over the current year's adopted budget, and requires a 1% real property tax levy increase, bringing the total tax levy to $105.6 million next year.