Voters narrowly passed Noble School District’s $52.3 million school district budget in Tuesday’s election.

The total tally across the three York County towns that make up Maine School Administrative District 60 was 2,345 votes in favor of the budget and 2,078 against, or about a 53%-47% split.

North Berwick voters approved the budget 791 to 599, while Berwick residents backed it by a margin of 981 to 804. Lebanon was the only of the three where a majority of voters were against the proposal, with 573 people voting “yes” and 675 voting “no.”

The result was revealed Wednesday evening after a nearly daylong delay in the tallying of Berwick’s results.

The budget represents about a $2.4 million jump from last year’s budget and will require a 8.61% tax increase.

Notable spending plans in the newly approved budget include reserving 81% of the total amount for school staff, continuing the implementation of a prekindergarten system and creating new curriculums.

Voters also approved $1.2 million as part of the state’s School Revolving Renovation fund. District officials said they will use the grant to improve air quality at Noble Intermediate.

Berwick voters also reelected Margaret Wheeler to the nine-person MSAD 60 school board. She will serve another three-year term.

Wheeler garnered 820 votes, edging out Mathew Roy, who earned 748. Another 286 voters left the race blank on their ballots, while 18 wrote in someone else.

Wheeler has served as an elected official since 2006, while this was Roy’s first time running for a municipal seat.

“I want to see us have the ability to have meaningful conversations and do the work the board is supposed to be doing,” Wheeler said outside the polls Tuesday.

Wheeler remarked that throughout her 20 years as an elected official, she’s usually been able to predict how voters will swing. But Tuesday morning, she said she was more unsure than she had ever been.