Garden City residents were still entering the high school gym before the polls officially closed at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, May 17. The board of education and school officials waited anxiously as Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Albert Chase wrote the official budget vote results on a large green chalkboard with voters approving it with a vote of 1,820 to 1,081.
In the school board elections, incumbent trustee Angela Heineman ran unopposed and received a total of 1,746 votes; and newly appointed interim trustee Tom Pinou, who ran for Laura Brown’s seat, was elected with 1,475 votes.
After 12 weeks of participating in the school budget review process, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert Feirsen presented the final overview of budget at a hearing on May 10. The Garden City School District budget totals $101,117,058, with a budget-to-budget increase of $3,128,568 or 3.19 percent. The projected tax levy increase (with STAR) is 2.58 percent.
After taking the oath of office at the board of education meeting after his win, Pinou, the former WPOA president, thanked residents and volunteers who participated in the election process. “I look forward to serving the community and the Board of Education,” he said.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert Feirsen told Garden City Life that he was delighted that the community supported the budget. “We believe it’s a fair and prudent budget for our times and we look forward to being able to implement the resources that the community will be able to provide for that,” he said.
Board of Education President Colleen E. Foley commented, “We thank the community for continuing to support the educational system in Garden City.”
In an interview after the results, PTA President Gail Madigan said she was thrilled that the budget passed and congratulated board members Heineman and Pinou’s on their wins. “We are going to continue to work with the Board of Education and administration to get parents’ voices heard and concerns addressed,” she said.
