This years school vote is in three parts. There will be a budget for next year, purchase of school buses, and three positions on the school board. The vote itself will be happening Tuesday May 19, 2026 in the High School Lobby, which can be found on the east side of the High School. Nearest doors are off East Street, at the entrance to the High School.
Quick election recommendations:
No to Budget
No to Buses
Yes to Candidates (Pick 3 of 5)
Budget
Much like last year, I don’t think a better budget option is available at this time. But I also dislike the model of constantly raising taxes to the levy limit. I believe I understand the reasoning behind this, it’s to avoid exceeding the cap while maximizing revenue. It just doesn’t sit well with me.
Buses
I heard a surprising thing about buses, which if true, completely changes my opinion on this item. At the March 24, 2026 Board of Education meeting, Gene (Superintendent) said, to paraphrase, that the bus portion of the vote is about debt. Which is to say, the busses can still be bought with cash, regardless of how that vote turns out. As I am against debt, double so for governmental debt, this makes voting no her an easy choice.
I’ll freely admit, I could be misinterpreting what Gene said. Gene usually knows what he is talking about, but this detail was more an aside then the main topic. Yet it’s what I heard. And while I asked for clarification at the end of that meeting, I have not received any yet. Until I come across additional information, I’m going with what I heard.
Board of Education
There are five Board of Education candidates, but only three positions. I do like there being a choice. My thanks to all those who are running, thus giving us this choice.
Having said that, more of the candidates then I would like have a clear education background. Which isn’t directly a problem. But when too many on the Board are professional educators (or retired as such), I think it has negative side effects. But I’ve said this before, so I’m not going to dwell on it now.
As to the candidates themselves:
Julie Masterson I would rather not see running here. Not because I have anything against her personally. But solely because she would be moving directly from staff to Board. If she was running for a different position (ie not Board of Education), or there had been a number of years since she was employed by the District, my concerns would not be what they are. But unless I am rather surprised at the Meet the Candidate event, I cannot in good conscience vote for Julie.
Rachel Rivera and Thomas Gaborski I can’t say anything meaningful about. At this time, I can’t speak for or against either of them.
Lynley Guckian has come a long way since joining the Board, and it has been interesting watching her grow into the role. As ever, not thrilled about incumbents. But when that is the worst I can say…
Caralyn Ross is my first choice of this group. I’ve generally been impressed with her performance on the Board. But that also means she’s an incumbent, which I also think isn’t ideal. Yet life is full of situations where perfect isn’t an option, so you go for the least bad. However you evaluate that.
Mind you, all this is being typed up before the ‘Meet the Candidate‘ portion of the Budget Hearing. Who knows what things I’ll learn there. As such, I look forward to that meeting.
As said at the top, polling location is the High School Lobby, which can be found on the east side of the High School. Nearest doors are off East Street, at the entrance to the High School. Election time is 7AM until 9PM.