GHENT–Budgets passed comfortably in all six school districts in Columbia County. Voters also approved a handful of propositions that generated little opposition, with several funded by existing reserves rather than new borrowing.
None of the districts in the county exceeded the tax cap set by the state and one district, Germantown, showed a decrease in spending compared to the current year.
Despite the support voters showed for the budgets, some educators and school officials have warned recently that districts continue to depend on their reserve funds to keep tax levies within state limits and when those funds are depleted school boards will face a new round of deep cuts to staff and programs.
In the Ichabod Crane Central School District an incumbent, Regina Rose, was defeated. In Taconic Hills, which had three open seats on the board and no candidates qualified for the ballot, but three write-in candidates were elected.
Below are the results supplied by the districts. The vote counts for candidates in the Hudson City School District were not available as of press deadline Wednesday, but the winners are indicated along with their term length. All winning propositions and candidates are marked with “*”. –Parry Teasdale
CHATHAM
Budget
Yes* 131
No 151
Board of Ed (4 seats open)
Muriel Faxon* 394
Craig Simmons* 355
Gail Behrens Day* 314
Melony Spock* 330
(Muriel Faxon and Craig Simmons will be sworn in immediately for the remainder of the 2012-13 school year. Muriel Faxon, Craig Simmons and Melony Spock will serve the 3-year terms through June 30, 2016, and Gail Behrens-Day will serve for one year until June 30, 2014, filling the unexpired term created by the resignation of Francis Iaconetti.)
Prop #1: Student member of board
Yes* 420
No* 60
GERMANTOWN
Budget
Yes 285
No 83
Board of Ed (1 seat open)
Donald Coons 138
Tammi Kellenbenz 229
HUDSON
Budget
Yes* 614
No* 431
Board of Ed (2 seats open-5 yr. and 2 yr.))
Jaclyn Rose Bruntfield
Joseph E. Carr
Scott diMonda
Tiffany Martin Hamilton* (5-yr. term)
Lynn Lee* (2-yr. term)
ICHABOD CRANE
Budget
Yes*951
No* 703
Board of Ed (3 seats open)
Kyle Aschenbrenner* 908
Tricia Gerkman* 953
Regina Rose 885
Anthony Welcome* 1,202
Prop #2. Borrow $376,000 to
buy 6 school buses
Yes* 971
No* 663
NEW LEBANON
Budget
Yes 231
No 53
Board of Ed (3 seats open)
Martha Esposito* 175
Tim Lambert* 172
Alexis McDonald 97
Sharon Putnam* 172
Raymond Sowalski 121
Prop #2. $1.2M Capital project
Yes 202
No 75
TACONIC HILLS
Budget
Yes* 352
No* 101
Board of Ed (3 seats open)
Robert Piper* 110
Kevin Meisenbacher* 106
Donald McComb* 69
Prop #2. Purchase van for $46,352
Yes* 333
No 107
Prop #3.: Student member of board
Yes* 337
No 94