Board debates later school start times and $1.1M transportation trade‑off ahead of revote

Trustees at the May 29 Three Village Central School District special meeting debated whether to use later high‑school start times as a voter incentive for the June 16 revote, but logistical and timing constraints led the board to defer a final decision and consider a future proposition.

Board member Stanley argued that including later start times on the ballot would give families a direct personal reason to turn out, proposing that freeing $1.1 million in the budget could pay added transportation costs for a later start. "This still acknowledges what the voters decided... but it would free up the money to include the change to the high school start times," he said when proposing a compromise approach to reductions and transportation costs.

Dr. Scanlon and transportation staff warned of practical trade‑offs: a half‑hour shift would increase recurring routing costs (administration estimated about $1,100,000 for the coming year), create conflicts between extra‑help and club/sport schedules at the high school, and lengthen some students’ bus rides in the district’s more sparsely populated areas. The superintendent also noted that some prior changes had produced management‑efficiency grants and that any reversal would forego those past efficiencies.

Trustees discussed options: (1) include start‑time transportation in the revote while staying under the state tax cap (which would require monitoring percent changes carefully), (2) keep the revote narrowly focused on the budget and place start time on a separate proposition next year, or (3) seek community education and a larger campaign to explain trade‑offs and routing concerns. Multiple trustees favored a proposition next year so voters could decide the change on its own merits.

The board did not place a start‑time measure on this year’s revote; the administration said it would model scenarios for future propositions and outline the operational and budget impacts in upcoming meetings.