Running unopposed, Trustees Lisa Colacioppo and Maria Mosca and newcomer James Svendsen were elected to the North Shore Board of Education and the $122.6 million budget was approved 63% of the 3,406 votes.

The margin of victory for the budget was  2,148 to 1,258.

The  $122,648,900 budget is a $2.3 million – about 1.91% – increase over the current budget.

The district will lose $2,388,670 in the 2024-2025 budget due to a settlement between Nassau County and LIPA that reduces the taxes paid on the Glenwood Landing power plant.

The district is using a state aid increase of $80,556 to slightly set off the revenue lost in the settlement, according to a message from the superintendent.

Svendsen, a lifelong educator who received the lowest number of votes, 1,914, will finish out the rest of former Trustee Marianne Russo’s term and serve for one year. The other two elected trustees will serve three-year terms.

Colacioppo, who received 2,216 votes, has lived in Sea Cliff for seven years and has been a North Shore Nassau County resident for about 15 years. She has one child, a sixth-grader, in the district. She worked in account management at a healthcare company and said she uses her audit experience as a trustee.

“I’m extremely honored to serve a second term and I am so happy this community came out to support our schools,” Colacioppo said. “I am extremely pleased to see how many people came out.”

Mosca, who received 2,011 votes, has been a Sea Cliff resident since 2015, when she moved to the North Shore from Long Beach. She has one daughter, an eighth-grader, in the district. Prior to her tenure as a board member, Mosca worked in IT at Columbia University, where she said she fell in love with the world of education.

“We heard our community speak again. We’re incredibly grateful to them for turning out the vote to support the budget for this amazing school district,” Mosca said. “I’m delighted at my own [results] and my colleagues’ turnout and for our actual trustee vote, even though it was uncontested.”

While Svendsen may be new to the North Shore board, he is not new to the world of education. Now retired, Svendsen said he worked as an educator for 34 years, teaching in schools in New York City and Lawrence and then serving as an assistant principal in Manhasset, a principal in New Hyde Park and a director of curriculum in New Hyde Park.

“I’m really pleased to be elected as a member of the board,” Svendsen said. “I look forward to doing the work involved and I think we have a really strong yes vote for the budget and that’s a really positive direction.”

Svendsen has lived in Glenwood Landing since 2016. He currently has two children in the district, both eighth-graders.

An issue top of mind for board members and administration is the $2 million loss of LIPA tax contributions due to a recent settlement between Nassau County and Long Island Power Authority.

The settlement will reduce the taxes LIPA pays for its Island Park and Glenwood Landing power stations by approximately 46.5% over the next five years, thus eradicating a large source of revenue for the North Shore district.

School administrators said the budget passing was a big relief and burst into applause when the ballots were counted.