Wantagh budget passes; Guber defeated in re-election bid

Posted

With a total of 2,800 votes cast, Wantagh Schools’ $81 million budget was approved by voters by a margin of nearly three to one — 2,048-753. Incumbent Board of Education Trustee and Vice President Adam Fisher was handily returned, with 1,509 votes, but board President Elizabeth Guber was upset by second-time candidate Tara Cassidy. Cassidy, who lost in the 2018 board contest, was the day’s biggest vote getter, with 1,715; Guber came third, with 1,336 votes.

It was the second time in as many board elections that the body’s presiding officer went down to defeat. In 2018, President Peter Montanos was lost to newcomer Laura Reich in a hotly contested run-off, after a near dead heat in the first round of voting.

The budget approval was a ringing endorsement of the district’s handling of uncertainty in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, as well as a vote of confidence in the board and district administration’s ability to weather the coming storms as the crisis continues