A plan to add fifth and sixth grades to Onteora Middle School and close a district elementary school is expected to be halted by a new Board of Education majority that was swept into office Tuesday.Winning candidates for three three-year seats were Ralph Legnini with 2,460 votes, Donna Flayhan with 2,379, and Ann McGillicuddy with 2,294. A one-year term to finish a vacancy was won by Laurie Osmond, who received 2,267 votes. The school board has seven elected members.
Osmond, who was sworn immediately following the election, said the four winning candidates were successful in getting the word out on their opposition to closing schools. She compared the sweep to an election three years ago, when the three candidates defeated Tuesday won seats on the board over the "large parcel" tax issue.
"I had a few people come up to me and say it was going to be a landslide, but I felt either way that it went had to be accepted," Osmond said.
Legnini said the new majority expects to immediately stop the plan to expand Onteora Middle School and close one of the district's three remaining elementary schools.
"We have to put it into motion to change that," he said. "That's what the voters said they wanted and we have to reflect that. So it was a very simple community decision."
The incumbent trustees finished as follows: Cindy O'Connor, 1,446 votes, Mary Jane Bernholz, 1,384; and Rita Vanacore, 1,301. Newcomer Adam Pollack, an Onteora High School senior, received 739 votes.
Bernholz and Vanacore declined to comment on the result. O'Connor called the defeat "very liberating for us."
"You don't always get what you want but you get what you need," O'Connor said, quoting the Rolling Stones tune.
Superintendent Leslie Ford said issues will be addressed when the new board takes over in July.
"That's what happens with boards, that's the usual," she said. "It'll be a different set of people and they will come up with their own collective way of working together."
Ford was pleased that the $48.21 million budget was adopted by a 2,468-1,165 vote, and that all three separate ballot propositions were approved by voters.
"I couldn't be happier about the budget," she said. "We've got buses, so we've covered transportation. We're going to be working on facilities, so this is really, really good news."
