Twp. Schools Move Election to November

Residents in Washington Township will no longer have a school ballot to cast in April, after the K-8 school district board of education and moved its election to November.

The board, voting on Tuesday night at the , was not unanimous in its decision, with members Kevin Daly, Chance Healy, and board president Michael Rec opposing the decision.

An approval of the option to move the election, , binds the board into a November vote for the next four years.

Moving the election to November no longer requires the public to vote on the proposed budget, unless it goes above the state mandated 2-percent tax levy cap. In the event the budget does surpass the cap, voters will be asked to approve or deny just that portion of excess.

Prior to the vote, board members spoke freely about why they would be deciding to approve or deny the adoption of the resolution.

“As I’ve said before, we don’t vote on municipal or state budgets, so why should we vote on the school budget?” Walt Cullen said. “There’s always been a low turnout in April, and moving to November will give people more say on who’s elected to the board.”

At the , residents voiced their opinion about the board disenfranchising voters if the ability to vote on the budget was taken away.

Board member appointed to her seat in July 2011, disagreed with those sentiments.

“As an attorney, I fully believe in representation,” Gallagher said. “But I don’t believe this strips the rights away from the voters. Now, voting on board members holds them accountable for putting together a strong budget.”

The board’s finance committee chairman, , took a different path, however, and disagreed with his colleagues about voting on the budget as well as what can happen in the future.

“I take a lot of pride in the job we’ve done on this board and on the finance committee, and my pledge is to continue to do so,” Healy said. “And I’d like to think I can place trust in future board members. But when I’m not on the board, I’d like to still have a say. It’s well within the public’s right to vote on more than 70-percent of their property taxes.”

Apathy, quality in question

Earlier in the meeting, board member Michelle Munley, head of the Ad Hoc Committee working to , gave a presentation calling for members of the community to get involved in the process.

“Good luck getting people out to discuss the demographics issue,” said resident Leta Davis after the vote to move the election was made. “This is unbelievable. It’s your decisions that help or hurt the children. If we vote down a budget, you say we’re hurting the children. It’s not our vote, it’s your decisions as a board that affects the kids.”

Long Valley resident Julie Turner claimed that the voice of the taxpayer was being taken away.

“This is very disheartening,” Turner said. “I don’t want to come anymore because I feel like my voice is being shut. You guys were doing a good job. I’m really sad about this.”

"I think the quality of voters in April is a more engaged group of voters than what we'll get in November," said resident Rich Mistkowski. "Ninety-five percent of the people out there don't know what's going on (with school elections). Your goal should be to educate people–get them here so they know what the hell is going on."

Board members Perry Kwok, , and Gallagher are all up for re-election in 2012, which will now be voted upon in November during the general election.

No board members in 2011 ran opposed, and that year’s budget was approved.

"It's unfortunate what happened," Mistkowski said. "We lost a lot tonight."