Bayport-Blue Point voters to weigh budget, uncontested school board seats

Bayport-Blue Point voters will not have a contested race for the school board, but they will still make a consequential decision on May 19: whether to back a roughly $88.4 million budget that carries a 2.75% tax levy increase and needs 60% approval to pass.

Incumbents Jessica Pignataro and Michael Miller are running unopposed for the district’s two three-year Board of Education seats. The election will be held in person from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Bayport-Blue Point High School gym, and the date also falls on a regular board meeting night in the district calendar.

Even without opposition on the ballot, Pignataro is framing the race around what the board has done and what remains unfinished. She points to the expansion of mental health support as one of the board’s biggest accomplishments, including making social worker positions permanent in every building and turning the elementary school counselor role from part-time to full-time. She also points to new clubs and extracurricular activities, along with the opening of the wellness center at Bayport-Blue Point High School.

The wellness center was designed as more than a cosmetic upgrade. District materials describe it as a dedicated space for students’ mental, emotional and physical well-being, with comfortable seating, rooms for the school psychologist and social worker, a plant and nature area, coloring books, board games and soft music. The indoor portion opened on Feb. 9, 2024, and construction on the outdoor portion began July 31, 2024. For Pignataro, that gives the project the weight of a board decision with day-to-day impact, not just a symbolic ribbon cutting.

The budget vote may carry even more leverage. District officials said the state-mandated tax levy limit is negative 0.76 percent because of expiring debt, which makes the proposed 2.75 percent increase a more complicated sell even in a year without a board fight. Last year’s budget passed with 797 yes votes and 319 no votes, showing that the spending plan remains the clearest place for voters to register support or pushback.

The district’s broader planning work is also in motion. In January, Superintendent Timothy Hearney held a community forum with parents, staff, students and other residents to review survey results and discuss strategic priorities. Bayport-Blue Point served 1,748 K-12 students in 2024-25, including 579 at the high school, where the four-year graduation rate was 98 percent. That record gives the district a strong benchmark, but the May 19 vote will still tell board members whether Bayport-Blue Point wants to keep funding that path, or demand a different one.