South Country ex-superintendent to get more than $135,000 in settlement

South Country Central School District will pay former Superintendent Antonio Santana more than $135,000 under a settlement agreement, a six-figure exit package landing as the Bellport-area district faces an estimated $8.7 million deficit and mounting pressure on staffing, programs and taxpayers.

The school board unanimously accepted Santana’s resignation effective immediately on May 6, ending his tenure while the district was already trying to close a widening fiscal gap. The payout adds another cost to a crisis that has already forced spending freezes, personnel layoffs and emergency borrowing, while families wait to see how much more classroom support can be preserved.

The New York State Comptroller’s budget review, issued April 10, said South Country was on track to finish the 2025-26 fiscal year with an approximately $8.7 million deficit. That review followed the district’s Oct. 22 disclosure that it had already run into an unplanned deficit in the 2024-25 school year. It also noted that the former assistant superintendent for finance and management services resigned in October 2025 and was replaced by an acting assistant superintendent.

The district’s financial strain has not eased. News 12 reported May 7 that South Country had a state-approved $18 million loan to help close part of the current-year gap, while the district was preparing a proposed 2026-27 budget of about $150 million with a 13.45% tax levy increase. That budget would need approval from 60% of voters under state rules, raising the stakes for taxpayers in East Patchogue, Bellport and the surrounding communities served by the district.

State Sen. Dean Murray said possible state responses could include a fiscal monitor, control board or complete takeover, depending on how the state and district budget processes unfold. Local reporting also said South Country could still be forced to trim another $6 million on top of $8.3 million in cuts already identified if requested state legislation allowing financing of existing deficits under government oversight is not enacted.

The crisis is not new. Earlier reporting showed South Country had already been wrestling with a projected $3.2 million budget gap and rising transportation, health insurance and special education costs, with proposed layoffs equal to 25 or more full-time positions. Against that backdrop, Santana’s settlement is more than a personnel matter. It is another bill attached to a district that still has not stabilized its finances, and another test of who pays for the instability: administrators, the state or South Country taxpayers.