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Edgerton School Board contest reduced to six

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John C. Falligant

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Amy Richardson

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James Salimes

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Sara Stinski

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Matthew Towns

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Kevin Vizvary

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David J. Weger

EDGERTON — Voters eliminated one of seven candidates in the Edgerton School Board primary election Tuesday night.

With seven of nine districts reporting, the winners were Amy Richardson, Matt Towns, John Falligant, Sara Stinski, David Weger, and James Salimes. They will be competing for three seats in the April election.

Kevin Vizvary was eliminated.

Both Towns and Falligant admitted that they hadn’t done a lot of campaigning but had talked to neighbors and friends informally.

“I’m out and about a lot, and I talk to a lot of people,” Towns said. “Sometimes people would come up to me to talk about the race, too.”

Towns and Falligant have something else in common: Both come from well-known local families with life-long ties to the community, giving them the power of name recognition.

Falligant’s mother, Jean, taught in Milton and Edgerton schools and served on the Edgerton School Board after she retired.

Towns’ family has been active in politics and community activities.

When asked if he thought those connections made a difference, Falligant said, “I’m sure it didn’t hurt.”

Towns agreed.

Whoever wins in April will be facing several challenges.

Like many other districts around the state, Edgerton is facing unprecedented budget challenges brought on by a variety of factors including declining enrollment, the state funding formula and revenue caps that limit the amount a district can tax residents.

A referendum in Brodhead to exceed the state revenue caps was voted down Tuesday, showing that voters there weren’t ready to dip deeper into their pockets for the schools.

Candidates for the Edgerton School Board stressed that every area of the budget must be scrutinized carefully, and taxpayers who were already struggling in a down economy shouldn’t be asked to do more.

In addition, the district will have a new superintendent for the first time in 22 years.