Three Village schools honor student achievements, budget plans advance

The Three Village Central School District used its June 3 Board of Education meeting to spotlight student achievement and push its 2026-2027 budget revote forward after the district’s first proposal failed at the polls. The night linked academic celebration with fiscal triage: a 4-3 board vote moved a revised $243,390,092 spending plan ahead, while students at Setauket Elementary and Ward Melville High School were recognized for math, service, science and competitive academic success.

Six students received the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award for service, sacrifice, citizenship and legacy through a student-athlete initiative supporting local veterans. Superintendent Kevin Scanlon said Kate Gironda’s acceptance to five military academies had never before happened in the district’s more than 60-year history. The other students recognized through the Bob Feller effort were Gracie Stuart, Grace Scolaro, Natalie Scolaro, Brendan Miller and Gus Siegel.

The district also honored three Setauket Elementary students who won their regional First in Math competition and advanced to the state tournament, bringing a $1,000 prize back to the school. Three Village’s First in Math materials describe the statewide competition as a test of fluency, perseverance and mathematical thinking, and the local win kept the focus on early academic performance at a time when the board was weighing how much to spend next year.

At Ward Melville High School, Tina Shuxin Xing was named a 2026 Regeneron Scholar, one of 300 students selected from more than 2,600 applicants representing 826 high schools across 34 states, Washington, D.C. and China. The district also recognized National Merit finalists and a bridge-building competition winner, underscoring a broader pattern of achievement in science, engineering and high-level academics.

The budget backdrop was less celebratory. Voters rejected the district’s May 19 proposal, a $244,980,092 budget, by 2,051 yes votes, or 46.7%, to 2,340 no votes, or 53.3%. The revised plan cut the spending proposal to $243,390,092 and set a 3.49% tax levy increase, with a total proposed levy of $185,217,549.

District budget materials show the revision trimmed capital spending from $3.0 million to $2.5 million, lowering the tax-cap calculation to 4.26% from 4.54%. The revised levy increase was listed as $1,379,813 below the state tax cap, a sign that the board is trying to preserve academic priorities while making the math work for taxpayers. The district scheduled a June 16 revote, with the June 3 hearing at the North Country Administration Building in Stony Brook serving as the latest test of whether voters will back that balance.