Budget passes in Baldwin; O'Hagan, Doresca elected to BOE

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Baldwin voters passed the school district’s 2015-16 budget easily last Tuesday — 1,372 to 652 — and elected Mary Jo O’Hagan and Annie Doresca to the Board of Education.

The $124.4 spending plan features a tax levy increase of 1.39 percent and a budget-to-budget increase of $2.4 million. It keeps programs intact, maintains the current level of staffing, adds 13 high school college-credit courses and expands the Career Academies program, among other items. Sixty-eight percent of voters approved the budget.

Four candidates ran for two seats on the board, including incumbents O’Hagan, who received 1,103 votes, and Eric Harrison, who amassed 836 votes. Doresca edged out fellow challenger George Siberon by six votes, 927 to 921, to earn a seat on the board.

For O’Hagan, it will mark her eighth term as a trustee, while Doresca will begin her first three-year term in July.

Doresca thanked the community for its support and noted the importance of each vote. Now that she’s elected, Doresca said she will look to further familiarize herself with the growing opt-out movement in Baldwin (students in grades three through eight refusing to take Common Core-based state assessments in English Language Arts and math) and hear from the residents on issues they’d like to see addressed.

O’Hagan said she’s looking forward to her next term and likened being a board member to teaching: it’s always different. “I really appreciate that the community has supported me for so many years and they continue to have confidence in me,” she said. “I look forward to working with Dr. [Shari] Camhi, who’s still a new superintendent in Baldwin, and Mrs. Doresca.”

A proposition to establish a $5 million capital reserve also passed, 1,303 to 592.

“We are very grateful to the Baldwin community for their support of our school district budget,” said Superintendent Dr. Shari Camhi. “We are pleased to provide an exceptional program for our students and believe that with the approved budget this will continue.”