HILLSBOROUGH - Incumbents Stephen Halkiotis and Tony McKnight will retain their seats on the Orange County Board of Education, joined by newcomer Lawrence Sanders.

Four candidates were vying for three seats on the Orange County school board. The primary is the only race for the board this year; it will not be on the general election ballot in November.

In unofficial results, Halkiotis tallied 27.7 percent of the vote, narrowly outpolling McKnight at 27.4 percent. Sanders had 24 percent of the vote. Tommy McNeill trailed with 16.2 percent of the vote. Sanders was the only candidate to submit a campaign finance form to the county for the race. He raised $1,893.

The Orange County School Board members are facing a tough budget year. The districts are facing higher employee health insurance costs, increased enrollment, and big state and federal cuts. The Board of Education has asked the county for $2.3 million more in funding to offset state and federal cuts. The school board asked the county to approve a $25.4 million budget.