Voters reject Plainview-Old Bethpage school district's $114M bond package

Voters in the Plainview-Old Bethpage school district Tuesday rejected a bond-borrowing package totaling nearly $114 million that would have raised property taxes by an estimated $549 per year for the average household.

Proposition 1, totaling $99.5 million, notched 2,513 "no" votes to 1,363 "yes" votes. Proposition No. 2, totaling $14.4 million, also lost, with 2,585 residents opposed and 1,244 in support.

The district's bond proposal was one of the largest put forward on Long Island over the past year, and largely aimed at expanding school buildings to accommodate what local officials describe as a heavy influx of new students from Queens.

"We have to go back to the table and find other ways to do the infrastructure improvements and address the space issues that still exist at the high school and in our elementary school," Superintendent Mary T. O'Meara said after the results were tabulated Tuesday evening.

She added, "The high school, meant for 1,500 students, has 1,735 students in it. One of our elementaries does not have enough room for another class should more students join. We still are seeing tremendous increases in enrollment; 201 students joined the district since July."

Some students have said that expansion is needed at Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School. However, some adult residents had protested the costs of the project, and a series of "Vote No" signs were posted along a stretch of Old Country Road.

The district held 13 public meetings and two bus tours in recent weeks to familiarize residents with the proposed construction and renovation plan. 

O'Meara said Tuesday night that 3,876 residents voted, which she described as "a very large voter turnout" and roughly double the turnout of last year’s budget vote.

New classrooms, playing field turf sought

The referendum had been split into two separate ballot items. Proposition No. 1 would have covered upgrades at the high school and other renovations throughout the district. 

Major proposed additions at the high school included a 12,000-square-foot auxiliary gym with yoga and weight rooms, a new performing arts center, expanded cafeteria space, 10 additional classrooms and six bathrooms. 

Proposition No. 1 would have also paid for four new classrooms at the district's Judy Jacobs-Parkway Elementary School, along with districtwide roof replacements, air conditioning in gyms and cafeterias and synthetic turf on playing fields. 

Proposition No. 2 would have upgraded the district's Jamaica Avenue building. This would have allowed it to be used for regular student instruction, along with its current community-based day care programs. The building is also used for adult education classes.

The second proposition could only have been approved if the first proposition passed. Proposition No. 1 itself would have cost the average homeowner $450 in taxes.

If approved, bond borrowing would have been paid off over 17 years, with 51% of total costs reimbursed by the state, local officials said.

On Tuesday afternoon, a steady stream of voters came through the Jamaica Avenue polling site, as teenage gymnasts practiced in another room nearby. 

One voter, Nicole Fernandez, who works as a recruiter for a health care agency, said she supported the bond issue with her family in mind. 

"As a parent of two children who will be in school for nine years to come, I want to make sure our children are set up for success," she said. 

Bob Pincus, a retired property manager, said he was opposed. 

"It's very upsetting to find out they want so much money, after so many years, when they could have just set aside a little money each year to pay for this," he said.

In a recent bond newsletter, district officials said $1 million-$4 million of their annual budget each year is for capital work, but that costs of larger projects exceed the available funds allocated for routine ones.