GUILDERLAND — Superintendent Marie Wiles theatrically wiped her hand across her brow in a gesture of relief as applause broke out among the onlookers who had gathered in the Guilderland Elementary School gym on Tuesday night to learn election results.

The proposed $128 million school budget had passed with close to 75 percent of the vote (1,628 to 546).

“That’s my best in 14 budgets,” said Wiles, who is retiring in June.

“Gratitutde is number one,” she said of how she was feeling after results from the last of the five elementary-school polling places was projected on the Promethean board set up in the gym.

The budget process was a tough one this year as Guilderland’s state aid remained essentially flat and the board did not want to dip deeply into its fund balance to close a sizable gap. While some posts held by retiring staff were cut, programs were preserved and class-size guidelines were followed.

“And I’m thrilled about the capital project,” Wiles said.

Voters approved a $57 million capital project with 71 percent of the vote (1,491 to 608).

“We’re starting a new chapter, a transformative future,” said Wiles.

Both Wiles and the district’s assistant superintendent for business, Andrew Van Alstyne, credited the Future Ready Task Force that looked at the district’s long-term needs with the success of the vote.

“We put a lot of time into getting a project that balanced what we needed with the tax burden,” said Van Alstyne, who credited Clifford Nooney, head of district maintenance, for the idea of looking at needs first.

The project will upgrade all seven of the district’s schools with an addition at the high school for performing arts; music students and their parents had lobbied for years for more space.

“I’m elated,” said school board President Blanca Gonzalez-Parker of the results. “Especially right now, with the economy, I was worried about it,” she said.

“And the bus proposition sailed through,” said Wiles, noting that, too, is a new chapter since the five new full-size buses are all electric. The cost will not fall on local taxpayers. The proposition, which passed with 73 percent of the vote (1,575 to 590) also includes a utility dump truck.

“Of course it’s bittersweet,” said Wiles, reflecting on her last budget. “But it’s also time for fresh eyes and fresh legs.”

On May 14, the school board appointed Daniel Mayberry, an educator from the Adirondacks, as the new superintendent.

Four candidates ran for four school board seats with the top three winning full three-year terms on the board:

— Katie DiPierro won a second term with the most votes (1,497). A special-education teacher for BOCES, DiPierro said on Election Night that she was proudest of the work she has done to support students and teachers and with diversity, equity, and inclusion, and she believes the vote shows support for DEI;

— Kelly Person came in just three votes behind DiPierro (1,494 ) to win her third term. Person, an Air National Guard Inspector General Investigations Officer, serves as the board’s vice president.

“I’m in shock,” she said when she saw the wide margins of approval for the budget and capital project. “I’m so grateful”;

— Meredith Brière, who works as ​​the treasurer for a political campaign and was appointed to the board in October, came in third with 1,331 votes. She said she would like to combat bullying, strengthen civic knowledge, and build bridges with municipal services.

“I’m so happy and so proud to continue to serve the district, the students, the staff, and the votes,” Brière said on Election Night;

— Peter Stapleton, an educator making his first run for the board, came in fourth with 1,312 votes. He will serve a one-year term, starting immediately, filling a vacancy created by the resignation of board member Judy Slack.

Slack was on hand for Election Night. She came with a notebook with vote tallies from Altamont, where she lives, going back to 2016. Slack served on the board for 16 years, retiring at age 80.

Library

While this was Wiles’s last budget vote, it was the first for Peter Petruski, director of the Guilderland Public Library. He assumed his post just after last year’s budget vote.

As he waited for results on Election Night, Petruski said he had “first-time jitters” but was hopeful.

He described the library’s $4.6 million spending plan as a “business-as-usual budget.” It passed handily with 72 percent of the vote (1,561 to 593).

“I’m excited,” he said, once the numbers were posted. He also said he was grateful for the support of the community and “excited to get to work with the new board.”

Five candidates ran for four seats on the nine-member board with the top two vote-getters winning full three-year terms while the next two got shorter terms, filling out posts from which trustees resigned:

— Michael Hawrylchak, a civil-litigation lawyer who has served on the library board for four years, got the most votes: 1,131.

He told The Enterprise earlier that he has been working to make changes in the budget process to make it more transparent and regular and that changes are needed to “longer-term budgeting — how we plan and track cash reserves.” This is work he wanted the opportunity to finish;

— Bethany Steuer, a public-service attorney making her first run for the board, came in second with 1,103 votes. She described libraries as “safe havens for many in our community”;

— Joseph Otter, director of school-community partnerships for the Lansingburgh schools, came in third with 1,037 votes.

The library, besides being a source for literature and archives, Otter told The Enterprise earlier, should be a place “where people share their expertise and passions.” He also stressed the importance of learning about various cultures and religions and said, “The library needs a collection that’s inclusive.” 

— Matthew Grunert, who works as a consultant with a local not-for-profit, came in fourth with 968 votes. Grunert would like the library to explore “how we can develop media literacy around artificial intelligence.”

He also said that he is “looking to see what we can do to take this sort of a bastion of knowledge to defend it to ensure that it stays open and accessible, that it stands as a beacon of truth in whatever happens in the future”;

— Michael Puspurs, who was elected last year, finished fifth with 792 votes. Puspurs, who works for the state licensing professionals, has a master’s degree in library science and was proud of bringing student art into the library along with the Guilderland Garden Club tending plants.

“He’s been so involved and so engaged,” said Petruski of Puspurs after the results were in. He noted how Puspurs pitched in reviving the library’s book sale and said, “I hope we can find ways to keep him involved.”

The figures in this story are unofficial as they have not yet been certified.