BROOKINGS – The Brookings School Board will welcome two new members to its ranks this summer, and in the meantime, the school board will have tough decisions to make following the public’s voting down the $51 million opt out.

There were two seats up for the school board race, currently held by incumbents Randy Grimsley, who ran for a second term, and Steve Bayer, who decided not to run again.

School board members are elected to three-year terms. New members will be sworn in during the July school board meeting.

First-time campaigner Deb DeBates was the top vote-getter in the race, with 2,158 votes. Roger DeGroot came in a close second earning the second open seat with 2,097 votes. Grimsley took 1,534 votes.

No ballots were marked for more than the maximum two candidates they were allowed, but 1,599 voters opted to vote for fewer than two candidates.

A total of 7,388 votes were cast in this race.

DeBates and DeGroot said they’re excited for the opportunity to serve the school district.

“I’d just like to thank everyone that supported me,” DeBates said. She added that she’s looking forward to working “for a school district that’s so progressive and doing so much for the benefit of our students in this community.”

“I had a team that worked really hard to help me win the board seat,” DeGroot said. “I’m really excited tonight, but I think more importantly, I’m honored by the patriots of the Brookings School District who entrusted me to be on the board.”

Both remarked that with the opt out being voted down, tough decisions are ahead for the school board.

“We need to move forward because we do need more money to run our school district,” DeGroot said.

One of the major votes for those within the school district was the proposed 10-year, $5.1 million-maximum annual opt out. District officials had said they initially would take $3.9 million, with a slight increase each year to follow inflation.

However, 74.9 percent of voters went against the opt out (2,768 votes), 23.3 percent voted in favor of it (859 votes) and 1.8 percent didn’t vote on the matter (67 votes).

A total of 3,694 votes were cast on this measure.

Brookings School District Superintendent Klint Willert said this means the school district has a lot of work and hard decisions to make before it creates and approves a budget in June for the 2018-2019 school year.

“We know that all three school board candidates vocalized their support of an opt out, and I think it’s going to be something we’re going to have to revisit at some point and time, but in the meantime, we know that we really have to look at balancing our budget and the difference between our projected expenditures and our anticipated revenues,” he said.

As early as next week, he said, the school administrative team could meet to begin the process of moving forward, with more discussion possible at the April 23 workshop meeting and the May school board meeting.

“I would like to close by saying I appreciate that so many people came out to vote. There was clearly an engaged group of citizens that wanted to come out and express their thoughts, and, really, that’s what a democracy is all about,” Willert said.

He closed by congratulating the newly elected board members and extending his gratitude for Grimsley’s service as a member of the school board.

“We just look forward to moving forward accordingly as a district,” he said. “We know we have some work to do, and we’re ready to do that work and serve the community and continue to engage the community in conversations about what’s most important for the Brookings students and the Brookings School District.”

Contact Eric Sandbulte at esandbulte@brookingsregister.com.