Now that Cynthia Foley of Westminster reclaimed her Board of Education seat, she's not exactly looking forward to the biggest challenge.

"The budget used to be fun, believe it or not, because money was not as tight," said Foley.

Foley, 52, received 31,824 votes while newcomer Jennifer Seidel, 37, of Mount Airy received the most votes at 39,547 for the Carroll County Board of Education race on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

Foley and Seidel defeated Jeff Morse of Taneytown and Virginia Harrison of Sykesville, and will fill the two seats up for grabs on the board

Though the fun of the budget is gone, Foley said she's confident that Superintendent Charles Ecker's proactive approach in cutting costs and the board's ability to work together will make it as painless as possible.

The fiscal 2009 budget is $172.5 million, and Foley said the school system is readying itself for less money from either the state or county, or both.

To lessen the burden, Ecker announced this month that the school system is considering leaving unfilled positions vacant and reducing out-of-town travel to decrease operating costs.

But even as the economy falters, Foley wants to lay the groundwork to improve the county's Career & Technology program during her next term, which begins Dec. 10.

She said while there is focus on sending students to four-year colleges, many of them do not return to Carroll to work.

"We clearly have to pay attention to the students who stay here and work here and help their community," she sad.

She added that even in bad economic times, the school board must advance that program. Seidel believes her experience as a reading support teacher for Montgomery County Public Schools and a mother helped seal her victory on Nov. 4.

"I think people see value having someone on the board with that background," she said.

She also believes the budget will be a challenge.

"Taxpayers are feeling the effects of the economy in their wallets," she said. "We need to look very closely at the school system's budget to spend the hard-earned taxpayers' dollars."

Foley congratulated Seidel on winning and looks forward to getting to know her personally as well as working with her on the board. She also praised Morse, who came in third with 30,067 votes -- just 1,757 votes behind her.

"I actually would have liked to see him come back to the board, but that has nothing to do with Seidel or Harrison. That has more to do with him being on the board before," she said. "He asked a lot of questions and did a lot of research."

Morse, 54, said he was pleased with the outcome of the election, even though he didn't win.

"Somebody's gotta win, and somebody's gotta lose," said Morse, who teaches at a high school in Littlestown, Pa. "I get to spend a lot of time with my family, and that's good, too."

Returning the favor to Foley, he said, "There wouldn't be a lot of joy defeating Cynthia Foley because she's an excellent board member."

Virginia Harrison, 62, ran as a write-in candidate to retain the seat that Gov. Martin O'Malley appointed her to when Morse resigned over a racial remark he made while on a school tour.

A total of 5,353 write-in votes were cast, but the unofficial results are not yet available to tell how many of those are for her. Harrison could not be reached for comment.

Election results noted here do not reflect all absentee and provisional ballots, which were still being tallied this week. An update of final numbers will be listed at www.explorecarroll.com when they are available.

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