JEFFERSONVILLE and ELDRED, NY — Voters gave the thumbs-up to school budgets at Sullivan West and Eldred yesterday.

Sullivan West’s $42 million budget for 2024-25 passed 312-81 in Tuesday’s vote. Three school board members ran unopposed for re-election: Katrina Chellis received 291 votes, Brian Kitson 293, and Kristy Sigelakis 286. They will serve three-year terms that will begin on July 1 and end June 30, 2027. State aid will cover 43 percent of the school district’s expenses.

Sullivan West says it’s increasing its college course offerings and building its early literacy program with the most current research in the science of reading. “We still have our RULER program where students are learning to identify their feelings and appropriately cope with them,” said the superintendent, Kathleen Bressler, in a statement. She said the district’s new Miss Kendra program “fosters a school climate where students feel safe and confident in their ability to learn...in an inclusive and nurturing environment.”

Eldred’s $20 million budget passed, 138 to 45. State aid is holding steady at $5.8 million.

Stacey Kuhn, the school board vice president, won re-election with 150 votes. She was unopposed.

The school district says it is promoting investment in its 8:1:1 program, which devotes one teacher and one teaching assistant to every eight students with emotional disabilities. “This has allowed us to keep some of our students in the district and even accept a student from another district,” says the district on its website.

It will also continue to increase the number of club activities at the elementary school, where students may choose among 40 different clubs. The college program at the junior-senior high school will continue but families will have to cover the cost of each class. “We are continuing our robust professional development program to help reshape instruction and continue our academic improvement,” the school says.