School budget

The fate of sports, musical performances and clubs in the Riverhead Central School District remains up in the air after a divided school board last night voted to wait to make a decision until it receives an auditor's report later this month.

Now that Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said some fall sports may resume competitive play as of Sept. 21, at least three members of the Riverhead school board want to revisit the question of restoring funding for athletics, music, theater and extracurricular activities.

The Riverhead school board made 'painful' cuts totaling more than $2.4 million from the proposed budget twice rejected by voters this year — to arrive at a spending level allowed by law for a contingent budget.

A second school budget failure would not only portend steep spending cuts to sports and clubs, but further restrict the district’s resources as it confronts the enormous task of safely sending children back to the classroom in September.

The budget hearing is the second hearing on the district’s proposed $147.1 million operating budget, which is scheduled for a second vote on July 28 following its rejection last month by district voters.

With its first failed budget in more than a decade, the Riverhead school board must decide whether to submit the budget to voters again or live with a $144.8 million contingency budget. In a June 9 executive order, the governor said school districts will be allowed a revote next month, with date and process to be determined by him.

Questions about the conduct of the upcoming school budget vote and trustee election were addressed by school board president Greg Meyer during today’s school board meeting, which was conducted via video conference and live-streamed on YouTube due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

School board adopts $147.1 million proposed budget, sets May 26 public hearing. A 10th candidate was added to the ballot in the June 9 election.

All school board, village board and library board elections scheduled to take place in New York in April or May have been postponed "until at least June 1," under an executive order signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo yesterday.

Here's what school officials plan to spend on instruction, security, transportation and facilities in the 2020-2021 school year.