Residents of the Mineola Union Free School District will be voting on a $110 million budget proposal May 17, establishing a capital reserve fund and filling one Board of Education seat.

This year the district approved a $110,006,200 budget for the 2022–2023 fiscal year with a zero percent tax levy increase for the second year in a row. Between the current and proposed budgets, there is a 1.62 percent decrease in spending. 

The proposed budget also includes a $9 million transfer to capital for districtwide purposes, including work on the middle-school gymnasium, Hampton Street student bathrooms, Willis Avenue upgrades and security camera upgrade, among others. 

Also on the ballot is the establishment of a capital reserve fund with no tax impact. The district said in a community release that the board is “seeking permission to establish a capital reserve fund to pay for future facilities needs.” The goal is to fund the reserve for a maximum of $20 million over the span of 12 years.

Cheryl Lampasona, a current trustee on the Board of Education, is running unoposed for election to a three-year term.

Lampasona said she would help maintain the district’s recent success.

“It’s like a big wave that never crashes,” Lampasona said in an interview with Blank Slate Media. 

Before her time on the board, Lampasona was on the Hampton Street School PTA where she served as president until her initial run for school board in 2016. She ran unopposed for Vice President Patricia Navarra’s seat after she stepped down. 

Lampasona is currently a New York public school teacher in Queens.

Throughout her past six years and in the future, Lampasona said she is committed to “maintaining an enhanced curriculum while keeping taxpayers in mind.” 

Lampasona said she was appreciative of the work the district administration has done to maintain Mineola’s high standards at the level where they have been for years. 

“Superintendent [Michael] Nagler and his team are very innovative and we do a great job of combining all our voices together for the greater good,” Lampasona said.

Full-day pre-K and a dual language program up to ninth grade are a few of the accomplishments Lampasona said the district has implemented in recent years. She also has two children in the district and expects to be a trustee on the board after they graduate from high school.

“I’m on the board for everyone’s children, not just my own,” Lampasona said. “I really do love this district and all the wonderful things we do and the accolades we get. I love seeing it come to fruition, it really is a wonderful thing.”

Voting for Mineola will take place from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Jackson Avenue and Meadow Drive Elementary School on Tuesday, May 17.