Schools

School Budget Approved, Lester Wins Fourth Term

Trustee Roy Lester racked up the most votes in the Board of Education election on Tuesday, and residents gave a thumbs up to the school district’s budget.

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Lester, the president of the school board and an attorney, received 1,087 votes to win a fourth term on the board. Challengers Matthew Adler, a math teacher at Seaford High School, collected 543 votes; Elizabeth Treston, a former project director for a state grant program for people with disabilities, garnered 423 votes; and Jes Bellsey, a former substitute teacher in the Long Beach district who works as a trade show and special projects coordinator, got 361 votes.

Lester will serve another three-year term on the board starting July 1.

By an official count of 1,432 votes to 610, residents approved the district’s $123.7 million 2013-14 budget. The spending plan represents a 1.3 increase over the current budget and carries a 1.2 percent or $93.2 million increase to the tax levy, the amount to be raised by property taxes.

Voters also supported the Long Beach Public Library’s $3.4 million budget for 2013-14 by a vote of 1,478 to 501. The budget represents a 0 percent or $27,193 increase and 1 percent tax increase over the current budget.

In the race for library trustee, incumbent Allen Greenberg, a financial advisor who was appointed a trustee of the board in February after President Paula Freund stepped down, received 1,156 votes, winning a five-year term, while challenger Diane Parr, a former  vice president at JPMorgan Chase, garnered 994 votes.

Greenberg will serve a five-year term on the library board starting July 1.

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