In an executive order issued on Friday, May 1, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that this year’s school budget vote and board of education election will take place on 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.

Following budget adoption, the district will make the proposed budget available to the public, hold a budget hearing on Tuesday, May 26 at 6 p.m. via livestream, 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 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 30 days prior to the election.

Individuals who intend to run for the Board of Education should notify the board clerk, Renee Price at rprice@scsd.org, by the close of business on Monday, May 11, 2020.