GRAND ISLAND SCHOOLS

Runoff election set following tie in Grand Island school board vote

It could have been settled by tossing a coin or drawing a card.

But voters in the Grand Island Central School District will decide Monday who wins the third of three School Board seats that were on last month’s ballot.

The May 19 elections ended with a tie between incumbent George Casey and challenger Teresa Price. Each received 505 votes.

In the contest for the three-year terms, David Goris, an incumbent, got the most votes — 576 — while Glenn Bobeck, another incumbent, won a new term with 540. Sandra Stypick, the fourth candidate, finished with 292.

Voting in the Casey-Price runoff race will be held from noon to 9 p. m. in the high school’s senior cafeteria.

“When there’s a tie vote, the parties could resolve it themselves,” School Superintendent Robert W. Christmann explained. “Or it can be a runoff election.”

Christmann said the candidates opted for the runoff, reasoning that it was “more reflective of what the community would want.”

Running another election will cost the district $2,000, Christmann estimated.

That covers advertising, mailing postcards to residents and paying election inspectors.

Though the tie vote is believed to be the first for the Grand Island district, Christmann encountered such a situation while superintendent of the Newark Central School District, near Rochester.

“It’s certainly unusual, but it does happen,” he said, noting that the Gananda Central School District, in Wayne County, also will hold a runoff election.