A third Onteora Board of Education seat is still up in the air after a counting error was discovered at two polling sites and the leading candidate said he is unable to serve.
Only four votes separate Leon Savage, who received 349 votes and Kristy Taylor, who got 345. There are eight ballots in question.
Savage has recently indicated he is unable to serve should he be elected. However, if he does win but then declines to serve, according to a statement from the district, the seat does not automatically go to the candidate with the next highest number of votes. Instead, the seat would be vacant per state education law and the School Board would choose how it is filled.
But first the votes have to be counted correctly. And once the ballots are sealed, only the commissioner of education can order a recount.
The School Board unanimously passed a resolution to send a request for a recount to the commissioner of education at a special meeting held May 27.
The district’s $59,991,639 budget passed 592-170.Â
Sarah Hemingway Lynch received 583 votes and Meghann Reimondo picked up 527 votes and were elected to two seats on the board. The seat in question will fill the vacancy left when Bennet Ratcliff resigned after being elected to the Woodstock Town Board.Â
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