North country voters approve school budgets

WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) - Voters across the north country approved school budgets Tuesday night. Every budget was approved and none of the votes were close. Incumbent school board members were beaten in Lowville and Sackets Harbor.

St. Lawrence County

- Brasher Falls Central voters approved a $27.8 million budget 156-21; Teresa Rios-Passon and Abdo Bejjani were elected to five year terms on the school board.

- Voters in Canton said yes to a $34.8 million budget, 356-75; they also approved the purchase of three buses, 366-61; increasing library support 354-76; and incumbent Robert Larrabee, Denise Sero and Jessica Sierk were all elected to the school board.

- Clifton-Fine Central’s budget passed 102-15; voters agreed to let the school district set up a capital reserve fund, 100-14; Judy Benzel and Emerson Northrup were elected to the school board; incumbents Roger Benjamin and Nicole Curry were re-elected.

- Colton-Pierrepont voters approved an $11.5 million budget 122-35; a bus purchase was approved 146-13; incumbents Alex Bonno and Cindy McLean were re-elected to the school board.

- Edwards-Knox voters approved their budget of $16.8 million, 122-17; a proposition to buy two buses was approved 131-9; a proposition to set up a capital reserve fund was approved 124-14; three write-in candidates were elected to the school board - Malissa Hale, Roger Tresidder II and Krista Krull.

- Hammond Central voters passed a $9.1 million budget, 87-14, and approved a capital reserve fund, 81-18. Incumbent Viviana Wilmot and Katie Rogers were elected to five year terms on the school board.

- Hermon-DeKalb’s $13.5 million budget passed 181-20; a proposition for a million dollar capital reserve fund passed 180-20; a proposition to buy two buses passed 180-20; incumbent Jordan Deleel and Martin Amo were elected to five year terms on the school board; Michael MacCue was elected to a two year term.

- Heuvelton Central’s $15.4 million budget passed 69-19; incumbent school board member Andrew Martin was re-elected to a five year term; Jacqueline Bill was elected to a five year term; incumbent Chris Riordan was elected to a two year term.

- Gouverneur Central’s $41.3 million budget passed 175-75; library support was approved 193-57; a proposition to continue student representation on the school board passed 221-31; William Cartwright and Naaman Lowry were elected to three year terms, as was a write-in candidate, Mark Hendrick.

- Lisbon voters said yes to a $16 million budget, 128-28; Christiana Navan was elected to a five year term on the school board.

- Madrid-Waddington’s $19.3 million budget passed 144-23; a proposition to buy two buses passed 147-20; capital outlay approval passed 154-12; Amber Sullivan elected to a five year term on school board; Robert Smith elected to finish the remaining two years of a term.

- Massena Central voters said yes to $63.8 million budget, 396-97; they also agreed to let a student continue serving “ex-officio” on the school board 410-86; Susan Lambert and Daniel Tusa were elected to five year terms on the school board.

- Morristown voters approved a $11.1 million budget, 109-33; they also approved library support, 98-45. Incumbent Ruth Anne Barkley, and Dr. Lawrence Kring III and Kristy Simmons were elected to three year terms on the school board.

- Norwood-Norfolk’s $25.9 million budget was approved by voters, 166-13; voters also approved buying three vehicles 163-19; setting up a vehicle reserve fund, 168-14; establishing an equipment reserve fund, 169-12. Incumbents Artie Frego and Suzanne Fiacco, and Mary Ellen Todd, were all elected to three year terms on the school board.

- Voters in Ogdensburg approved a $53.5 million budget 198-30. The budget is up significantly, $4.1 million, but does not increase taxes. Voters also approved the establishment of a capital reserve fund, 199-27; they agreed 193-35 to allow the district to spend up to $3 million on construction; incumbents Craig Lalonde and Vicky Maypeo were re-elected to five year terms.

- Parishville-Hopkinton’s budget of $12.9 million was approved 142-56; Timothy Zellweger and incumbent Jeff Yette were elected to five year terms; Cassie Hayes was elected to finish out a two year, two month term.

- Potsdam voters agreed to a $36,3 million budget, 285-66; they said yes to buying four buses, 301-48; incumbents Ralph Fuller and Rachel Wallace and J. Patrick Turbett were all elected to three year terms on the school board.

Lewis County

- Beaver River Central’s $19.1 million budget passed 378-137; support for the Croghan library was approved 354-166; Jamie Zehr was elected to a three year school board term.

- Copenhagen had an $11.9 million budget, and voters approved it 71-6; they also approved Head Start transportation, 75-3; Alfred Tomaselli was unopposed for re-election to the school board for five years.

- Voters in the Harrisville school district approved an $11.3 million budget 79-9, the purchase of two buses 79-8 and library support, 50-33. Incumbent school board member Parish Atkinson was re-elected to a five year term.

- Lowville’s $28.7 million budget passed 393-95; a proposition to buy three buses passed 391-95; library funding passed 387-99; James Farquhar was re-elected to the school board with 269 votes; Jonathan Gillette beat incumbent Stephanie Houser Fouse 290-233; Amy Marti was re-elected with 292 votes.

- South Lewis voters approved a $28.5 million budget, 179-71; they agreed to buy three school buses, 187-63; they agreed to set up a capital reserve fund of up to $5 million, 164-86; incumbents Andrew Liendecker and Dawn Ludovici were re-elected to five year terms.

Jefferson County

- Alexandria Central’s $15 million budget was approved 273-53; a proposal to buy two school buses and another vehicle passed 285-34; incumbent Suzanne Hunter was re-elected to a three year term; Eric Heath was elected to a three year term.

- Belleville-Henderson’s budget of $11.6 million passed 100-56; funding for three libraries was approved 111-38; incumbent John Allen was re-elected to a five year term on the school board.

- Carthage Central’s $67 million budget was approved 186-43; funding for the Carthage Free Library and the Sally Ploof Hunter Library in Black River was approved 184-45; incumbent Sean McHale was re-elected to a three year term on the school board with 205 votes; Robert Sliger was also elected with 191 votes.

- General Brown voters approved a $25.9 million budget 363-126; the purchase of four school buses was ok’ed 386-98; a capital reserve fund was approved 397-85; incumbent Tiffany Orcesi and Kim Shuler were elected to three year terms on the school board; Jason Reynolds was elected to a one year term.

- Indian River’s $92 million budget was approved 96-21, as was a capital reserve fund of up to $10 million and a repair reserve fund of up to $2 million, which passed 94-22. April Frans and Bridget Carpenter were elected to five year terms on the school board.

- LaFargeville Central’s $12 million budget passed 47-7, and incumbent school board member Mary Ford-Waterman was re-elected to a five year term.

- Lyme Central’s $8.9 million budget was approved 153-22; library funding passed 151-23; incumbent Shauna Dupee was re-elected to the school board for five years.

- Sackets Harbor Central voters approved a $9.6 million budget 151-19, and a proposition to buy a school bus, 158-13. Brian Robbins edged out incumbent Christine Wheeler 89-83 for a five year term on the school board.

- South Jefferson’s budget of $39 million passed 332-82; the purchase of six buses passed 335-79; a capital reserve fund of up to $5 million was approved 302-111; incumbent Justin VanCoughnett was re-elected to a five year term and Joseph Eberle II was elected to a five year term.

- Thousand Islands’ budget of $22.1 million was approved 316-46; library funding passed 286-77; a write-in candidate, Dan Ward, beat Dondra Liebman 187-148 for a three year seat on the school board; Bruce Mason kept his seat on the board for another three year term; incumbent Jennifer Bach was unopposed for another three year term.

- Watertown’s $82.9 million budget passed 504-116; incumbent Culley Gosier was re-elected to the school board for three years, and Fred Sovie was elected to the board for three years.

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