Kathleen Amaral will remain on the school committee, where she will be accompanied by newcomer Elizabeth “Bess” Coughlin as decided by voters in the April 4 annual town election. 

Amaral and Coughlin received the highest vote totals, with 1,972 and 1,277 respectively. 

These numbers beat out Lynne Turner, who received the next highest vote count, 837, in her second unsuccessful bid for a seat on the School Committee. Her total was followed by Erica Morency with 791, and Troy Tufano with 604. 

Amaral and Coughlin will each have a three-year term, beginning once they are sworn in, which is expected in the coming week. 

The winners were overjoyed with the election outcome. 

“I’m just really grateful,” Amaral said. “I feel that the community has placed a trust in me and so, that’s not something I take lightly and I’m really excited.’’

“I’m kind of amazed that I won and happy because I worked hard for it. But I really appreciate the support of the community, and I'm a bit humbled by their faith in me,” said Coughlin. 

Coughlin filled a seat previously held by Mary Waite, who did not run for re-election.

Amaral is excited about the town’s decision to elect Coughlin to work alongside her. “She’s just a lovely person, she’s super knowledgeable, and I know she’s going to just hit the ground and really dig into the work, and she’s committed, and she values public education. So, I’m excited to work with her.” 

School Committee was the only contested race in the election. Despite that, poll workers at precinct two were impressed with the 91 votes submitted halfway through the day. They totaled 353 votes for the day.

Dartmouth had a voter turn out of 12.39% with a total of 2,967 voters.

Both Amaral and Coughlin expressed their enthusiasm about working to make Dartmouth schools the best they can be for the students, parents, faculty and staff.

Candidates who ran unopposed include Stanley Mickelson for Select Board, Robert Michaud for Assessor, Joan-Marie Proulx and Lisa Ann Tufano for the Trustee of Free Public Libraries, Emily Olmsted for Board of Health and Sherri L. Tetrault for Board of Parks & Recreation.