Washington Twp. to Lose Regional Board Seat

Washington Township will relinquish a seat on the West Morris Regional Board of Education, and Chester Borough will gain one after the school board election in April of 2012, according the Morris County Schools Executive Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Serafino.

The reapportionment of seats is based on the figures, a decennial report conducted throughout the country.

The regional school board is currently represented by nine members: five from Washington Township; one from Mendham Township; one from Mendham Borough; and two from the Chesters.

The reapportionment will now create a seat dedicated to Chester Borough, and take one away from Washington Township. Previously the two seats representing the Chester municipalities were chosen at-large. Current board representatives Marcia Asdal (term ends in 2014) and James Johnston (term ends in 2013) are both residents of Chester Township.

Washington Township representatives Joseph Galayda, Dave Lobron, and Tom Richar are all up for re-election to three-year terms in April, and Washington Township representative John Meyer us up for re-election to a one-year seat.

Interested residents of Chester Borough will be able to run for the open seat without facing an incumbent.

Of the five sending municipalities in the regional district, Chester Borough has the lowest population of 1,649, an increase of 14 residents from 2000, according to the U.S. Census. The borough represents 4.3 percent of the district.

Washington Township has the largest population, with 18,533 residents representing 47.8 percent of the district’s population, up from 17,592 ten years ago.

The reapportionment has been mandated by state statute, which says each municipality within the regional district must be represented by at least one seat on the board.

Appeals of the reapportionment are allowed and may be brought to the commissioner of education, Serafino said in a letter to the school board.