“Almost as many voters turned out to cast ballots in Schenectady County’s smallest school district elections this year as did in the county’s largest district.
The number of votes separating Schenectady City School District and Duanesburg Central School District — a district about 1/15 the size — was less than 200. Duanesburg had 1,093 voters cast ballots on its almost $19 million budget for the 2023-24 school year and two board of education seats. Schenectady, with its $265.3 million spending plan, a historic $300 million capital project and three school board seats, had 1,285 voters.
In Duanesburg, contentious school board races have set the tone for increased voter turnout over the last two years. Last year, five people ran for two open seats. This year, four vied for two positions.
“We have had competitive board of education races in which candidates were sharply divided along ideological lines both this year and last year,” said Duanesburg Superintendent James Niedermeier. “National issues like mask wearing, COVID vaccine support, equity programming and book banning have galvanized our local electorate as they have in many other communities. Candidates and their supporters have worked very diligently to get their messages to voters.””
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Briere, Shenandoah. Schenectady Daily Gazette 31 May 2023.