The Corning-Painted Post school district voters will elect three board members in this year’s election. The district is also voting on a very contentious nearly $147 million budget on May 20.
There are currently four open seats on the Corning-Painted Post school board this year. Three are up for election and one position became available after the president of the board, Janelle Meteer, abruptly resigned last week.
Meteer left at the start of the school board meeting on May 13. It is unclear why she resigned, but according to other members of the board it was a personal decision. She served on the board for 11 years.
The board decided during a special meeting on May 19 that Meteer’s seat will be filled by the candidate who receives the fourth highest vote total in the election on Tuesday.
According to School Superintendent Michelle Caulfield that candidate will be appointed to fill out the remainder of the term. Their appointment will begin July 1 and end on the date of the May 2026 election, which is yet to be determined.
The vice president of the board assumes the role of acting president until the seat is filled.
Two candidates on this year’s ballot are incumbents and the other two are retired employees of the Corning-Painted Post school district running for first terms on the board.
Margie Lawlor has been on the school board since 2019.
She said she joined the board because she believes that a high-quality education is crucial to a great childhood and it helps children achieve their full potential as adults.
Lawlor’s children were part of the school system and she said she wants to ensure all students have the same level of excellence in their education.
She said, however, that one way the board could be better is to be more strategic about costs to the budgets and staffing.
“We tend to take decisions one at a time, and we don't always look about how that decision is going to affect us in five years,” Lawlor said. “So, you know, being more intentional about looking at the future impact of decisions we're making today.“
Lawlor said for example, the board kept the tax levy at zero in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic and did not raise the tax rate.
“Because we didn't do that, we were at a lower baseline. And now we're farther behind,” Lawlor said. “So, I personally would say I didn't really look out that far with that. It was the pandemic, and I think we thought we were doing something good for the community by being able to give them a break that year, but our costs still went up“
Ashley Johnson-Long, who is also an incumbent, has served on the Corning-Painted Post school board for four years. She was appointed to the board during the COVID-19 pandemic and elected for a full term in 2022.
Johnson-Long said the school board is doing a good job of considering many different stakeholder voices when setting policy that is supportive of teachers, staff and students, and implementing policies that are inclusive.
However, she said the board needs to improve its communication outside of the regular school board meeting in order to reach different constituent groups. Johnson-Long said opportunities include social media, infographics, the newsletter and town hall meetings.
“Making sure it's set up in a way that we can really have two-way discussion, [Q&A],” Johnson-Long said. “Try to do it in some small groups. Not to turn into debate, but really to just have [an] open conversation where we can talk with each other.“
She said the town hall format is the way to reach people “who are not on social media but still going to where people are versus asking them to come to us.”
Johnson-Long said she believes the district is fiscally responsible and she is interested in being part of the budget committee to be “able to affect more change” in the district.
Retired reading teacher Erin Merrill is hoping to give back to the community in a way that is different from her more than 30 years of teaching in the district.
She said that it is important to be progressive in how education goes forward.
“We need to be moving forward for our students because they are the future leaders of our communities and so if education takes a step back, so does everything else,“ Merrill said.
Merrill also serves as a substitute teacher in the district occasionally. Additionally, she and her dog are a volunteer therapy team in several district schools every month. Merrill and her dog visit students at two elementary schools, the middle school and the high school one day each month.
Candidate Kate Merrill, who is not related to Erin Merrill, said she considers herself a historian of sorts because she worked for the district for nearly 40 years.
She said the district has changed a lot since she began her tenure in 1984 and understands the concerns from the public about rising costs to the taxpayer.
“I think in the long run, the district is going to have to do something different, because we can't keep having these large increases in the levy,” Merrill said. “But it's going to take some time to figure that out and to do it right.”
Merrill retired as principal for Erwin Valley Elementary School for the district. She recently served as acting principal for Broadway Elementary School in the Elmira City School District (ECSD) for six months.
All candidates for the Corning-Painted Post school board said they will vote “yes” on the nearly $147 million dollar 2025-26 budget. The budget is listed as Proposition No. 1 on the ballot.
There are two additional ballot measures for voters to decide upon on May 20.
Proposition No. 2 asks voters to approve a bond resolution for the district to buy new diesel-powered vehicles including five school buses for $977,000.
Proposition No. 3 is to fund the Southeast Steuben County Library for $1,511,568 through a property tax levy. The library budget is separate from the school district’s budget.
Other school districts in the area will vote on their budgets and elect board members on Tuesday as well.
Elmira City School District
Elmira City School Disctirct voters will decide on a proposed school budget of $155.3 million with no increase to the tax levy for the fifth consecutive school year. This is a $4.6 million increase in spending from last year.
Voters will also choose four board members. There are seven candidates running for election. Three of them are incumbents.
Horseheads Central School District
The Horseheads Central School District (HCSD) ballot measures include Proposition No. 1, a proposed $105.8 million budget for 2025-26, which is a $3.1 million increase from last year. The budget includes a tax levy increase of 7.4 percent. The tax levy exceeds the tax cap and must be approved by 60 percent of the voters on Tuesday to pass.
Proposition No. 2 is for the purchase of vehicles at $1.9 million using a tax levy and bonds.
Voters in the HCSD will also vote to fill three school board seats. There are seven candidates to choose from on the ballot. Two of them are incumbents.
Voters go to the polls for school board elections and to decide on 2025-26 budgets and ballot measures on May 20.
