NANTUCKET – Voters on Nantucket yesterday approved $46 million in spending for the island’s school system, including the construction of a new elementary school.
Nantucket’s schools have seen an increase in students, with the population of the island out pacing every other county in the state.
The school project, which will require a Proposition 2 1/2 tax increase, received 1,854 votes in favor and 543 opposed, according to Nantucket Town Clerk Catherine Flanagan Stover.
Voters also approved $15 million for a new fire station. Paying for the project also requires a Proposition 2 1/2 override. The vote was 1,799 in favor and 598 opposed.
In a race for a three-year term on the Nantucket Board of Selectmen, Dawn Hill-Holdgate prevailed over Clifford Williams by a vote of 1,395 to 922.
The other contested race was for a seat on the Nantucket Island Land Bank Commission. Richard Glidden was the top vote-getter for the five-year term with 1,069 votes. The other candidates were Jeanne Miller with 734 votes and Philip Bartlett with 571 votes.
About 29 percent of the island’s registered voters cast ballots in the annual town election. Out of the island’s 8,618 voters, 2,464 voted in yesterday’s election.
