Wantagh’s Own 2016 Election

Matthew Schroh, Editor in Chief

In a year all about twisted and wild elections, the Wantagh School Board just held their own elections on May 17. And though you won’t be seeing Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders on the local level, the board of trustees’ election was still an exciting event that had many pundits curious of the outcome.

The race was between incumbent duo of Akers McLoughin and Peter Mountanos and ex-board member Jean Quinn for two seats. Jean Quinn was a trustee during a time where the budget was voted down once. McLoughlin and Mountanos still serve on board and boast such achievements as bringing computer science classes to the district.

Also up for voting was the budget, which was first presented on May 3. This budget contained such measures as extra funding for the arts among its standard money for classes and maintenance.

Simply as a Wantagh resident, I could tell the board race was to be a closer one. One would have trouble walking down a street in the suburban neighborhood without seeing a yellow sign on someone’s front lawn, proudly boasting the resident’s trustee choice to the rest of the town.

In the end, McLoughin and Mountanos held onto their seats. It was by a larger margin than expected – McLouglin and Mountanos received 1,675 votes and 1,708 votes, respectively – while Quinn tallied 894 votes. The budget also passed easily.