The contentious Saratoga Springs school board race that centered on arming school monitors — and which mobilized voters on both sides of the debate — ended with a split decision.

Also Tuesday, voting results regionwide showed overwhelming budget success — but not in Lansingburgh. Albany and Guilderland voters approved large-scale projects and Schenectady voters approved the sale of a former school for a housing development.

In Saratoga Springs, a member of Saratoga Parents for Safer Schools, Dean Kolligian, won one of the three available seats on the Board of Education. John Brueggemann and Natalya Lakhtakia, who have said they don't believe armed monitors equal safety, gained the second and third seats. All results are unofficial.

Board incumbent Heather Reynolds' re-election bid was unsuccessful. Also unsuccessful were Ed Cubanski, Shaun Wiggins and Connie Woytowich, who wanted to arm the gun monitors.

Voting was brisk: About 5,800 people went to the polls. That's more than double from 2018, when 2,800 voted for school board.

The win for only one of the Saratoga Parents for Safer Schools slate came after the parents' group raised $33,129 to press for re-arming the grounds monitors on the district's eight campuses.

The race grew out of a board vote in October that ended the practice of monitors carrying weapons, a practice that had been ongoing at the school for 30 years. Superintendent Michael Patton said the practice was out of compliance with state and federal law, and required board approval to continue.

The board voted, 5-4, to end the practice, citing research that found guns don't make a school safer.

That vote angered many parents, includicolonig Kara Rosettie, who formed the group that vowed to install "pro-safety" candidates onto the board to overturn the decision. Her group cited the average of seven minutes it takes for police to arrive at the school in emergencies.

In addition to a petition with 1,034 signatures, her group raised $33,129, about a third of which was spent on a campaign strategist as well as signs, robocalls, mailers, social media ads and robotexts.

Board member Patricia Morrison, who is also running for city Commissioner of Finance, said she is impressed by how engaged the community has been in the school board vote.

"This election brought in large money donations, including a $12k contribution from a single donor," Morrison said. "The same public policies in place for local and statewide elections should be applicable to school board elections."

City residents also approved the proposed $129.4 million budget.

Other highlights

In Lansingburgh, most voters favored the $50 million budget— but because it exceeded the allowable tax cap it needed a 60 percent majority, which was not achieved.

The 390-to-284 margin was a 57 percent approval.

The rejected budget represented a 1.3 percent spending cut over 2018-19 and the estimated tax levy increase was just 1 percent.

The district said it can present the rejected budget for another vote or offer voters a revised version. If voters reject the proposed budget twice, the district must adopt a contingency budget with no tax levy increase and a $156,430 reduction from the proposed budget. The contingency budget would prohibit the public use of buildings for non-district-related events unless all district expenses are paid in full by donation before the event. It would also prevent the district from buying general classroom supplies and the school supplies for every individual student as it did for the 2018-19 year.

But the winning ways apparently everywhere else reflected the continuing trend — in the region as well as the state — of widespread approvals.

Albany voters approved a $260.4 million budget and a wide-ranging $45.6 million building project that surpassed the required 60 percent approval. The board race was uncontested.

Schenectady voters approved selling the former Elmer Avenue Elementary School for $450,000. Developer Sunrise Management and Consulting hopes to convert the building into about 40 apartments. Voters also approved a $202 million budget. Cathy Lewis, Ann Reilly and Andrew Chestnut won races for school board.

Guilderland voters approved a budget and a $30.9 million capital construction project.

Troy residents approved a $114 million school budget that will result in a 1 percent tax levy increase. Incumbents Anne Wager-Rounds and Ann Apicella, plus newcomer Ebony Pompey-Conway, won board of education seats.

North Colonie voters passed the $116 million school budget. Two unopposed candidates, incumbent Pennie Grinnell and newcomer Matthew Cannon, were elected to the board.

South Colonie approved the budget, bus purchases and a safety capital project. Residents also elected three unopposed candidates to the board: incumbents James Tim Ryan and David Kiehle, as well as newcomer Mike Keane.

Bethlehem residents approved a $100 million budget, as well as a bus purchase propositions and a capital reserve fund. Jonathan S. Fishbein and Wendy Samson won board seats.

Schalmont voters approved the budget and the bus purchase proposition, and elected John DiCocco, Kyrish Iyer and Jean Hanson to the board.

Niskayuna residents approved the school budget and bus purchased. They also re-elected Brian Backus, and elected Greta Jansson and Kimberly Tully, to the school board.

Mohonasen voters passed the budget and the purchase of six buses, and elected Deborah Escobar and Chad McFarland to the board.

Shenendehowa passed a $177 million budget and approved a $2 bus proposition to buy 20 vehicles.

More Information Saratoga Springs voting breakdown (to fill three seats) : John Brueggemann, 3,362 votes Dean A. Kolligian Jr, 3,069 votes Natalya Lakhtakia, 2,898 votes Shaun Wiggins, 2,819 votes Heather Reynolds, 2,800 votes Edward Cubanski III, 2,575 votes Connie Woytowich, 1,008 votes See More Collapse

Cohoes voters approved the budget and a capital reserve fund. Incumbent Mark Pascale and newcomer Susan Dion were elected to the school board. A third seat will be filled using a write-in process.

East Greenbush passed the school budget and bus proposition.

Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake passed their $69 million budget. Incumbents Patrick Ziegler and Jennifer Longtin were re-elected to the board. The district also approved a non-voting student position on the board of education.

Ballston Spa residents approved a $92 million budget, with an average tax increase of less than 1 percent. Both board candidates were elected and all other propositions — including school bus puchases, a capital reserve fund, and library funding — passed.

Averill Park passed a $59 million budget, as well as the purchase of eight school buses and one tractor. Peter Schaefer, Meghan McGarry and Samantha Hicks were elected to the board.

Schodack voters approved the budget, bus purchases and a student position on the board of education. Sherri Gibson, Dan Grandinetti, Shelley Palmer and Bruce Romanchak were elected to the board,

Gloversville approved a $67 million school budget that will result in a 2 percent increase in the property tax levy. Incumbents Robert Curtis, Kevin Kucel and Vincent Salvione ran unopposed.

South Glens Falls voters passed a $58 million school budget, as well as a nearly $590,000 proposal to buy six school buses. Kimberly Henkel, Jeff Riggi, Tom Kurtz and Roger Fedele were elected to the school board.

Queensbury residents passed the $65 million budget, with a tax levy of nearly 3 percent, and approved the purchase of four school buses. Incumbents Stacy Flaherty and Tim Weaver were re-elected.

Galway voters approved the school budget, established a capital reserve fund and approved a school bus purchase. Dennis Schaperjahn, Linda Jackowski and Karen English won board seats.

Schuylerville passed the school and library budgets. Joanna Crowley and Jessica Schwerd won school board seats. Patricia L. Partello and Laura Dooley were elected to the library board.

Wynantskill residents approved the budget, a school bus purchase, a capital reserve fund and a repair reserve fund. Cathleen Castle and Andrew Lanesey ran unopposed for the school board.

Berne-Knox-Westerlo voters approved the school budget.

Brunswick-Brittonkill approved a $25 million budget, which will increase taxes by 4.25 percent. Margaret McCarthy, Leah Wertz and Jack Roddy were elected to the board.

Menands residents passed the school budget and elected Courtney Jaskula to the school board. Voters also passed the library budget and elected Joe Kelley to that board.

Corinth voters approved a $22 million budget, the purchase of school buses and funding for the library. Louis Luech was re-elected to the school board, as was newcomer Jennifer Bourdeau.

Scotia-Glenville approved the budget and bus purchases. Kim Talbot and Dan Feinberg won board seats.

Germantown voters approved the $15 million budget, with a tax levy increase of 4.42 percent. Andrea Provan and Teresa Repko won board seats.

Ichabod Crane voters approved the $41 million budget, with a 2.7 percent tax level increase, and approved the purchase of 5 school buses. Residents elected Elizabeth Phillips to the board of education and re-elected Matthew Nelson and Jeffrey Ouellette.

Edinburg residents approved the budget, bus purchase, a bus reserve fund and a capital reserve fund. James Lowerre was elected to the board.

Fonda-Fultonville residents passed the $30 million budget, with a 1.5 percent tax levy increase, and approved a bus lease proposition. Matt Sullivan and Bonnie Couture were elected to the school board.

Duanesburg passed the budget and approved a bus proposition. Deborah Grier, Dianne Grant and Henrietta Dunn were elected to the board.

Catskill residents passed the school and library budgets. The district will announce board of education winners on Wednesday, due to the number of write-in candidates.

Greenville voters approved the school and library budgets, as well as the bus and property propositions. The two board candidates, David Finch and S. Jay Goodman, ran unopposed.

Albany Public Library: Three trustees were elected. The place order and vote totals were:

1. Arlene Way 1,641

2. Sara Dallas 1,594

3. Thomas McCarthy Jr. 1,491

4. Lori Kochanski 1,389

For the past several years, school budgets statewide have been approved at more than a 90 percent rate — last year's was 98 percent. At the same time, the number of people who vote on the budgets continues to drop, hovering at about 10 percent turnout on average in the Capital Region.