AUGUSTA — Voters elected April Cusick to the Board of Education on Tuesday.

Cusick received 260 votes to Ray Dostie’s 158.

Dostie and Cusick both sought to fill the Ward 3 seat being vacated by Nicole Desjardins, who did not take out nomination papers to seek re-election.

Cusick, 50, who owns Cusick’s Auto Repair in Hallowell with her husband, Steve, said she ran for the school board because she wants to serve the community where her family has extensive ties.

“I don’t have a personal agenda,” she said, during the campaign. “My family has been a member of the community for three generations, and I am invested in seeing Augusta schools be the best they can be.”

She said she needed some time to learn about the school system and its issues before deciding whether she would support a tax increase to provide more funding for education. She said she is opposed to cutting programs for students.

Cusick said she has the best interest of the children and families of Augusta at heart.

Dostie, 64, who has spent 43 years officiating a wide variety of sports at the high school and other levels, said he ran for the school board because he was “tired of seeing kids leave school functionally illiterate.”

The Ward 3 Board of Education race was the only contested local race in Augusta on Election Day. Running unopposed were incumbent Mayor David Rollins; Marci Alexander to an at-large City Council seat held now by Dan Emery, who did not file papers to seek re-election; incumbent Ward 2 Councilor Darek Grant; and incumbent Laura Hamilton and resident Tom Connors to two at-large spots on the school board.

Keith Edwards — 621-5647

kedwards@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @kedwardskj

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