Spending plans from the school board overseeing Red Bank’s K-8 programs and the regional high school were approved by voters yesterday, according to today’s Asbury Park Press.
The newspaper reports that the Red Bank Board of Ed’s $11.34 million budget was approved by a vote of 187 to 165.
Lone candidate Ben Forest drew 352 votes, the Press reports in a separate story, winning re-election to a three-year term. But because of multiple spellings of names of write-in candidates, officials had not yet sorted out who might have won the two seats that went unsought on the ballot.
School Business Administrator Ann Darrow said she expected a significant number of write-in votes. All the write-in votes were made at the voting booth; no absentee ballots had write-ins.
“We’ve had a couple of calls of interest, and we had a lot of write-ins,” Darrow said.
But while two people emerged as top vote-getters, voters spelled their names several ways, which presented a challenge for officials tallying results to make sure the votes are cast for the same person.
“There were so many, and a bunch of them were cast with the names spelled wrong,” Darrow said.
Which means officials have to sort out if the write-in votes for Ann Goldman and Anne Goldman were all intended for the same person. At least two write-ins emerged as top vote-getters with different spellings, Darrow said.
Red Bank Regional High’s $16.59 million spending plan passed muster, 576 votes to 467, the Press says.
Information on the outcome of voting on three incumbents for three seats allotted to Red Bank residents was not available, but Frank Neary of Shrewsbury was reported to have won the uncontested one-year unexpired term available to a Shrewsbury resident, with 207 votes.
The Press notes that the results at this hour are unofficial.
