In an executive order issued on Friday, May 1, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that this year’s school budget vote and Board of Education election will take place on Tuesday, June 9, exclusively by absentee ballot due to the COVID-19 public health crisis.

The executive order establishes a timeline of actions that schools must undertake leading up to this date, including sending an absentee ballot with a prepaid return envelope to all qualified voters. Qualified voters are defined as U.S. citizens who are 18 years or older and have lived in the district for at least 30 days prior to the vote.

The district will make the proposed budget available to the public, hold a budget hearing (which will take place remotely) and mail a budget notice to all residents after the budget hearing. This procedure is no different than other years except for the hearing being held remotely.

Additionally, the executive order calls for districts to send each qualified voter a postcard with the date of the election, the date of the budget hearing and the definition of a qualified voter.

The district is continuing to review the details of the executive order and will share more information, including the date of the public budget hearing, as soon as possible. 

Board of Education Election

The order also waived the minimum signature threshold for Board of Education candidates and states that candidates must meet all of the other requirements to run for the board. These include being qualified voters and having lived in the district continuously for one year prior to the election. 

To inquire about how to self-nominate for board elections, please contact Mrs. Wellington, District Clerk, at 315-826-0203.

DEADLINE FOR FILING NOMINATING PETITIONS TO FILE IS MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020.

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that petitions for nominating candidates for office must be filed in the District Clerk’s office by 5:00 p.m. on May 11, 2020.  Under NYS Governor Executive Order No. 202.26, there is no minimum threshold of signatures required on a nominating petition this year.  Candidates must:

• Be able to read and write.
• Be a qualified voter of the District. A qualified voter of the District is a citizen of the United States, at least 18 years of age or older and not adjudged to be an incompetent.
• Be and have been a resident of the District for a continuous and uninterrupted peiord of at least one year immediately before the election.
• Have not been removed from any school district office within the preceding year.
• Not reside with an other member of the same school board as a member of the same family.
• Not be a current employee of the school board.
• Not simultaneously hold another incompatible public office.