School budgets heavily approved throughout region

Joe LoTemplio, The Press-Republican, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
Updated ·6 min read

May 16—PLATTSBURGH — All North Country school districts reporting results from budget votes Tuesday saw voters approve spending plans for the 2023-24 school year.

The Press-Republican received results from district officials in Clinton, Essex and Franklin Counties after polls closed Tuesday night.

CLINTON COUNTYAuSable Valley

The AuSable Valley Central School budget passed with 324 yes and 147 no.

Amanda Whisher won a board seat unopposed with 369 votes.

Peru

Peru Central School District's budget passed.

—Proposition 1 (Budget) — 354 yes, 179 no

—Proposition 2 (Buses) — 385 yes, 152 no

—Proposition 3 (BOE Term) — 462 yes, 76 no

Board election:

—Sarah Mitchell — 401 votes

—Stephanie Boswell-Davies — 330 votes

Total Ballots Cast — 539

Beekmantown

Voters approved the budget 450 votes in favor and 218 opposed.

The community also supported a proposition for buses by a count of 520 — 160, and a Capital Project with a vote of 458 — 222.

The following are the results from the Board of Education voting:

—Chris Gadway- 351

—Troy Anderson- 327

—Duane Bibeau- 293

—Doug Beebe- 205

—Eric Deyo-Pugh- 165

—Julia Cross- 153

—Maggie Pope- 143

—Sarah King- 134

Northern Adirondack

Budget — 172 yes — 117 no

Bus proposition — 198 yes — 93 no

Board of Education — Steve Bartlemus — 198

Plattsburgh

Budget was approved by a count of 464 to 243

The Student Ex-officio proposition passed 548 to 162

Board candidates elected in for 3 seats:

—Rod Sherman 384

—Shauna LaDue 351

—Bobby Hall, Jr. 326

Chazy

The budget was approved by a count of 249 (71%) in favor and 101 against.

Residents also supported additional state aid reimbursement for an Energy Performance Contract (82%), which will run simultaneously with the recently approved 2023 CCRS Capital Project.

In addition to the school budget vote, two members were elected to the Board of Education:

—Mary LaPierre was elected to a four-year term, earning 304 votes.

—Lee Barcomb was elected to a four-year term, earning 215 votes while Kelly Andrew earned 115 votes.

Barcomb begins his service on the Board of Education on July 1.

Residents also supported funds for the Chazy Public Library, and elected Mrs. Kristin McAuliffe to a five-year term on the Library Board.

Saranac

The budget was approved by a count of 230 to 92.

Dan Ashline was unopposed and regains his seat on the School Board for a five-year term.

Also in school board voting, Tracy Allen-Waite retained her seat with 194 votes, and Dustin Judd got 92.

Proposition 2: Capital Reserve Fund Expenditure passed with 273 yes votes and 46 no votes.

Proposition 3: Dannemora Free Library passed with 257 yes votes and 59 no votes.

NORTHEASTERN CLINTON

Budget VOTE: Yes: 469, No: 214

Resolution #2: Buses: Yes: 521, No: 167

Resolution #3: Libraries: Yes: 548, No: 137

School Board Members (One Seat):

—Melissa (Hinerth) Bresnahan: 454

—Molly Ryan: 201

ESSEX COUNTYKeene

The $7,870,480 budget with a 6.8% tax levy increase was approved by a count of 206 to 85.

The levy exceeded the state imposed tax cap, thus requiring 60% needed to pass the budget. The final tally was 71 percent in favor.

Board of Education: Two seats available: Lauren Crowl (incumbent) 177, Eugene Chin 162 and Janelle Schwartz 138.

Proposition to create a Capital Reserve:

229 Yes

58 No

4 blank

Lake Placid

Budget: The budget passed with a total of 340 votes in favor and 98 votes against.

Leasing of Two Buses: The proposition calling for the leasing of two buses to maintain the size of the fleet passed with a total of 371 votes in favor and 68 votes against.

Wilmington Library Budget: 393 Yes, 46 No.

Board of Education Seats:

—Ryan St. Louis 273

—Douglas Lansing 304

—Nathan Hammaker 267

—John Hopkinson 283

Write In Votes:

—Rick Preston 2

—Cora Clark 3

—Greg Fisher 1

—Ernie Stretton 1

Total Votes Cast: 443

Minerva

The budget was approved by a count of 103 to 25.

Proposition Results:

Yes — 90

No — 36

Board Seats Results:

1- 5-year term (Nellie Halloran) — winner

1- 1 year-6 week term (Nicole Griffen) — winner

—Nellie Halloran-105

—Nicole Griffen-67

—Jessica West-56

—Jessica McNally-14

—Trish Gardner-1

Boquet Valley

Budget: passed 189-120

Board seats: Dina Garvey 253 and Sarah Kullman 252, both retain their seats.

Van purchase: passed 230-80

Bus purchase: passed 222-88

Ticonderoga

Budget Vote: Yes — 305, No — 113

Voter Proposition: Yes — 295, No — 121

Board Members — Three seats available

—Robert Dedrick — 335

—Lynne Lenhart — 282

—John Woods — 190

—Seanna Porter — 266

Schroon Lake

The budget was approved by a count of 232 to 92 (71%)

A proposition to purchase a bus was approved by a tally of 236 to 88

Board of Education Seat: Jared Whitley received 265 votes

Moriah

The budget passed 172-33.

Board members re-elected were Amy Gaddor with 187 votes and Anthony Harlow with 160.

Crown Point

Budget: Yes, 80 and No, 6

Two incumbent board members re-elected:

Florence St. Pierre-Sears, 80 votes

Terry Ross, 67 votes

Capital Project 2025 Resolution: 77 yes, and 8 no.

Newcomb

Budget: 64 yes — 6 no

Proposition for Bus: 67 yes — 2 no

Board of Education — Nicholas Poulin — 69 votes

Willsboro

Budget: 117 yes — 79 no.

Board Election — 2 three-year seats:

—Krissy Leerkes — 159 Votes

—Emily Phillips — 164 Votes

Bus Purchase: 117 yes — 76 no.

FRANKLIN COUNTYMalone

The budget passed 426-84.

Bus proposition passed 434-72.

Two board seats were won by Dana Reyome (259 votes) and Dave Merrick (118 votes).

Saranac Lake

Budget was approved by a count of 385 to 67 (85%)

Proposition for buses was approved with a vote of 413-45

The energy proposition was approved 412-43

The Library proposition was approved 362-93

Winning school board seats were Joseph A. Henderson with 374 votes; Tori N. Thurston with 373 votes and Michael A. Martin with 391 votes.

Salmon River

The $36,886,087 budget that increases spending 9.7% ($3,260,260) and carries a tax levy increase of 0% was approved with 100 yes; 36 no.

Purchasing and financing school transportation vehicles at a total cost not to exceed $1.4 million: 110 yes; 34 no

Starting with the 2023-24 fiscal year, and continuing through the 2024-25 fiscal year, the board of education will have a non-voting student representative: 119 yes; 26 no

Board of Education election:

Two candidates sought election to two open board of education seats:

Shawn McMahon: 125 votes

Sheila Marshall: 111 votes

The terms are five years each, beginning July 1, 2023.

Chateaugay

Budget vote: 123 yes, 41 no (75%).

Bus proposition: 148 yes, 16 no (90%)

Board of Trustees: Austin Hodges 132 votes

Write-in Votes for Austin Hodges's seat — 6 Votes

Valerie Dalton — 134 Votes

Write-in Votes for Valerie Dalton's seat — 6 Votes

E-mail: jlotemplio@pressrepublican.com

Twitter: @jlotemplio