Madison: The Madison School Board has one new member and one old member after Tuesday's election.

The votes are in, but the yard signs are still up in the race for a spot on the Madison School Board.

Lawrie Kobza is the newest face on the board after defeating incumbent Bill Clingan. "I think our message that we needed a change really spoke to a wide group of people."

The wide group of people that supported Kobza also supported veteran Carol Carstensen. She thinks voters were nervous about too big of a change. "People want some change but they want to make sure the things they value continue forward."

Kobza spent most of her campaign criticizing what she called the board's lack of fiscal responsibility. "We can't close our eyes and just say, 'As long as it's for the good of the kids we don't care how much it's going to cost.' Because that's obviously important."

The next big decision for voters will be the 3 referendum questions they will be asked to approve on May 24.

The referenda include $14.5 million for a new elementary school, an extra $7.4 annually for operating revenue, and $26 million over 5 years for maintenance.

Kobza has lukewarm support for two of the questions and opposes the new elementary school. Carstensen supports all three.

The two do agree that the election will have no bearing on the referenda.

"I don't think you can make any kind of prediction about the referenda based on the election," says Carstensen.

"I don't think it's a bell weather on how the referendums are going to go but I do think it should be a bell weather on how the board should conduct its future actions," says Kobza.

Kobza will be sworn in at the end of April.