BERNE — In a landslide vote, the Berne-Knox-Westerlo school budget for next year passed late Tuesday in a district where budget defeats had been common.

The $19.3 million budget proposal for the 2007-08 school year received 66-percent of the vote, 575 to 293. The budget represents a 4.1-percent increase over this year’s spending plan.

In a four-way race for two school-board seats, Helen Lounsbury, a former BKW teacher and school board member, and PTA president Michelle Fusco were the two top vote-getters. They will assume their posts in July.

The unofficial results from Tuesday’s election showed Lounsbury received the most votes with 520. Fusco received 411. Robert Rue, making his second run, received 351 votes, and incumbent Edward Ackroyd received 285, respectively.
Superintendent Steven Schrade attributed the budget passing to a low increase and a "reasonable" tax-levy increase. Schrade said he also suspects the budget was supported by PTA members because the school board had added a foreign language program.
BKW Business Administrator David Weiser said he is "very pleased" the budget passed on the first vote. Last year, the budget passed the initial vote for the first time in three years. When hired in December, Weiser said that the school had good momentum, having had success with its budgets lately. Tuesday, he said the passing of the budget had continued that momentum.
"I’m a little disappointed"I think good people won," Rue said on Tuesday night.

Ackroyd ran for the school board unopposed in 2004 after Lynn Countryman stepped down.
"I’m pleased and honored to be chosen," Lounsbury said yesterday. It’s a great feeling to know the community trusts her and has elected her to a position on the board, she said. The community, she said, has entrusted her with "our most precious natural resource" — our children. "They validate you," Lounsbury said of the voters.
Lounsbury said she is looking forward to working with the other board members. "I’ve been there before," she said, adding that she knows she is just one person and the work of the school board is collaborative.

On Tuesday, 872 people voted, almost 200 fewer than last year.
"I can only speculate," said Schrade. "When voter turnout is lower, it usually means the community is more accepting of the budget," he said.

A bus proposition totaling $344,513 was also passed 590 to 274. To purchase two new Chevrolet Suburbans, two 65-passenger buses, and two 28-passenger buses, BKW will borrow $160,000 and spend $184,513 in the capital reserve fund.