|
Article Audio:
|
SCHENECTADY COUNTY – Almost as many voters turned out to cast ballots in Schenectady County’s smallest school district elections this year as did in the county’s largest district.
The number of votes separating Schenectady City School District and Duanesburg Central School District — a district about 1/15 the size — was less than 200.
Duanesburg had 1,093 voters cast ballots on its almost $19 million budget for the 2023-24 school year and two board of education seats. Schenectady, with its $265.3 million spending plan, a historic $300 million capital project and three school board seats, had 1,285 voters.
In Duanesburg, contentious school board races have set the tone for increased voter turnout over the last two years. Last year, five people ran for two open seats. This year, four vied for two positions.
“We have had competitive board of education races in which candidates were sharply divided along ideological lines both this year and last year,” said Duanesburg Superintendent James Niedermeier. “National issues like mask wearing, COVID vaccine support, equity programming and book banning have galvanized our local electorate as they have in many other communities. Candidates and their supporters have worked very diligently to get their messages to voters.”
He said the district informs voters about upcoming elections, as well, sending mailings, communicating electronically and posting signage.
Schenectady took similar steps to entice people to head to the polls.
They sent two mailers with election day and budget information to every Schenectady resident and made several phone calls and sent text messages and emails to district families, along with using the district app to notify voters, according to the district.
“We also did several posts on socials,” said Karen Corona, the district director of communication and public information.
But voter turnout remained about the same as it usually does — under 1,500, the district said.
“This is not just in our community,” said Superintendent Anibal Soler, Jr. “It is typical in other areas and with other elections. Unless negatively impacted by something on the ballot, the number of voters remains around the same. We will continue to try to engage and will always encourage our community to come out to vote and be sure their voices are heard.”
Following the implementation of the state tax cap in 2012 — a law which set a limit on the annual growth of property taxes by local governments and school districts, voter turnout has decreased across the state, with two exceptions being 2020, when all voting was by absentee ballot, and in 2022, according to data provided by the New York State School Board Association.
“When a school budget exceeds the tax cap, voter turnout tends to increase, and when a budget is within the cap, turnout falls,” said Al Marlin, a spokesperson with the association.
He said proposed budgets that exceed the tax cap require a 60% supermajority for approval and so people typically turn out to vote.
The other exception to the tax cap trend was last year, when Marlin said voters headed to the polls due to contentious school board elections.
He said several districts around the state had controversial school board races “as candidates debated so-called ‘culture wars’ issues including COVID mask-wearing requirements and perceptions about school curriculum.”
Marlin said turnout for school district elections and budget votes was 13% higher in 2022 than this year.
Union College political science professor Zoe Oxley said several things can affect voter turnout — one being voter rights. Many districts experienced huge spikes in voter turnout in 2020 when everyone voted by absentee. Duanesburg jumped to 1,163 in 2020 during absentee-only voting, compared to pre-COVID level, when they averaged 602 voters between the 2003-04 to 2019-20 school years. Schenectady’s voter turnout increased to 3,736, compared to its prior average of 1,582 between the 2003-04 and 2019-20 school years.
Oxley said that’s because voting was easier and people knew about the vote since they were sent the absentee ballot.
“The voting laws matter,” she said. “If you make it easier to vote and bring voting to the attention of voters more directly then more people are going to vote.”
Oxley said that school board elections also differ from general elections because there is very little advertising for the elections and information available to the public isn’t as pronounced as it is with general elections.
“But when you mail a ballot to a voter’s house, they see it come in the mail and they know an election is happening. They have a ballot in their hands, even if there’s not a whole lot of media attention or candidate advertising around.”
But the attention provided to school elections by the media also plays a role. She said local media didn’t provide details on which candidates were running in Schenectady but did provide details on the district’s capital project and budget.
“I think local media bears some responsibility, as well, for the lack of information in the environment,” she said.
Reporter Shenandoah Briere can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @ByBriere.
Categories: -News-, Email Newsletter, News, Rotterdam, Schenectady, Schenectady County
One Comment
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I did not receive any letters/mailings from Schenectady School District. In fact I was hoping I would so I could have information re: candidates and the proposals on the ballot.