It's Official Thompson, Steinhilber and Heidcamp on BOE, board discusses high school food fight   One week, more than an hour of counting and nothing much has changed. The three candidates for the Saugerties Board of Election who were in the lead after last week's unofficial vote count learned they were still in the lead at the Tuesday, May 22 Saugerties Board of Education meeting. Three new faces will sit on the school board next year. After last week, Mark Thompson was the only mathematical sure thing, while James Steinhilber and George Heidcamp had to wait until Tuesday before they could celebrate their victories. A total of 3,010 votes were cast in machines at the district's four elementary schools. An additional 98 absentee ballots were also cast. Holding up the official announcement were 183 affidavit ballots, cast in person at polling places. Affidavit votes were submitted by voters who either did not have a valid form of identification or were not listed in the most current voter rolls used by the district at polling places. The names on the outside of the ballot were sent to the Ulster County Board of Elections for confirmation, and those that were deemed legitimate were opened at a special meeting of the school board on Tuesday night. Of the 183 affidavit ballots, 11 were deemed invalid while another five were either unsigned or unsealed, leaving a total of 167 valid ballots. After the affidavit ballots were counted, Thompson still led all candidates with a total of 1,688, a difference of 75 votes over last week. Steinhilber's total jumped a further 81 votes to 1,598 votes after the affidavit votes were counted, while Heidcamp's tally rose from 1,478 to 1,562. On the outside looking in after the final results were tallied was challenger Tom Ham (1,538 votes) and incumbents Vincent Buono Jr. (1,417 votes) and Edward Kovac (1,268). The affidavit votes also revealed that an additional 103 area residents voted in favor of the 2007-08 operating budget, while 56 voted against it. Eight more did not cast votes on the budget in the affidavit totals. The $49.7 million spending plan received 1,864 'Yes' votes and 1,403 'No' votes. Steinhilber and Heidcamp, who ran on a ticket with Ham, said they hoped the new faces on the board will bring with them a willingness to work together with all the trustees, and that the board will be more open with the public in the future. "I think you're going to see some changes on the board, some positive things," said Heidcamp. "I'm looking forward to working with all the board members. I think we can put all our attitudes at the door and sit down and work comfortably as a full board." "I finally feel like we've come to a conclusion," said Steinhilber, who added that he's looking forward to hitting the ground running. "There's nothing in particular that I want to zero in on. I want to look at it all." Heidcamp said he was looking forward to officially becoming a school board member at the annual organizational meeting in July, though he added that victory was bittersweet. "It's been like a rollercoaster," Heidcamp said. "I feel bad that it came down to me and Tom [Ham]. Tom is a really good guy, and I think he'd be an asset on this board. I'm going to encourage him to stick with it and run next year." Ham said it was too early to say whether or not he would run again. "If the race was next week, it would be definite," said Ham. "This is important to me, and if I feel like I'm needed I'll run again." "I'm very happy with the results," Ham said. "You can't have everything all the time. I'm very confident in George and Jim. I think progress will be made, and I'm looking forward to it for the kids." Heidcamp said his election to the school board would not spell the end of Saugerties Watchdog, a Website he set up over a year ago that has often been critical of school officials and school board members. "I am going to keep the Watchdog running," said Heidcamp, who added that it could expand to more often cover non-school district areas of Saugerties. "I haven't really thought that much about it." One thing Heidcamp has thought about is the contract negotiations between the school district and SESA, the support staff union that covers secretaries, teacher's assistants, teacher's aides and cafeteria workers. "The first thing I would like to get going on is this contract," said Heidcamp. "These people have been going on three years without a contract." More than 20 members of SESA were in attendance at the meeting, where member Sue Buda addressed the school board. "We are about to enter our third year without a contract," said Buda. "My colleagues and I are valuable assets to the district. We deserve the same respect and consideration that has been afforded to the custodians, the teachers and the administrations. We hope that as you begin early negotiations with the Superintendent [Richard Rhau] you remain mindful of our situation."   Chaos in the cafeteria Also speaking at the public participation session was Louis Parisi, a former district teacher who said his stepdaughter, a high school freshman, was injured during a food fight that took place in the Sr. High cafeteria at approximately 10:30 a.m. on Friday, May 18. According to Parisi, his stepdaughter was hit by flying debris during the melee, receiving a bruise on her throat and a cut on her chin. He added that she was not allowed to visit the nurse's office and instead was sent outside with all the other students. According to Principal Timothy Price, students were led outside both to quell the situation and to allow the custodial staff as well as other building employees to clean up the mess. Rhau said he couldn't comment on the specifics of the incident, but he stressed that it was not widespread. "It was just an exchange of food," said Rhau. "Everybody decided that they were going to give theirs away to somebody else." Price added that the food fight was contained in one area of the cafeteria, and it did not involve all the students on lunch break. Parisi had a different take on the situation. "I think that was a potentially very dangerous situation from the reports I've heard from several different kids," Parisi said. "Tables were overturned, chairs were thrown, food trays were thrown. That's all potentially hazardous." Both Rhau and Price said the students involved in planning the food fight would be disciplined. "We take it seriously," said Rhau. "It is May, and it's been a long year. Obviously we're going to follow our discipline code, and those kids that started it are going to be disciplined." According to Price, cafeteria supervision would likely increase for the remainder of the school year. By the time school begins again in September, cameras already scheduled to be installed throughout the school - including the cafeteria - would be in place. Crispin Kott