Oceanside superintendent urges turnout for May 21 budget vote, proposes 1.57% tax-levy increase

Phyllis Harrington, Superintendent of Schools for the Oceanside Union Free School District, asked residents to vote in the district's annual budget and board election scheduled for Tuesday, May 21. "We are proposing a 1.57% tax levy increase, which will be one of the lowest in all of Nassau County," Harrington said, describing the spending plan supporters say will sustain programs such as the Oceanside High School Wellness Center.

Harrington said the proposal includes a capital-reserve project to turf the district's softball and baseball fields, renovate a portion of School 3, update the tennis courts and add pickleball courts, and install air conditioning in the Oceanside High School band room. She presented those items as investments the district hopes the budget will allow the board to pursue.

The superintendent pressed the community to vote, saying the district saw more than 8,000 absentee responses during the COVID period and that a typical in-person turnout is "over 2,000". "We need you to come out and exercise your right to vote," she said, giving voting hours and location: Merle Avenue Gym, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, May 21.

No formal action or board vote on the budget is recorded in these remarks; the proposal will be decided by voters at the scheduled election. Harrington closed by thanking the community for its attention and encouraging broad participation in the vote.