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 Fayetteville-Manlius Board of Education’s April 20 budget adoption, the district will make the proposed budget available to the public, hold a budget hearing (which will take place remotely), 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.
Fayetteville-Manlius School District is continuing to review the details of the executive order and will share more information as soon as possible.
Board of Education Election
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 one year prior to the election.
Individuals intending to run for the board should notify district clerk Sarah Gridley no later than May 11.
Continued communications
The district will continue to update the community via the district website with any new information and frequently asked questions.
Any time-sensitive, critical information will be shared via the district’s SchoolMessenger notification system, which sends email, text message and phone call notifications, depending upon how parents subscribed to the system.
More COVID-19 information and previous F-M COVID-19 communications.