West Morris Regional School Board Calls For First-Ever Five-Municipality Summit

The West Morris Regional High School Board of Education held a special presentation Tuesday, March 22 to formally present its 2011-12 budget to the public.

After the board adopted the proposed budget, new business was called to order and unanimously approved a motion asking to hold a summit that would incorporate all mayors and school board presidents to discuss the possibilities of saving school tax dollars. A press release from the West Morris Regional Board of Education stated the following:

The West Morris Regional High School Board of Education is calling for the first-ever summit meeting of Mayors and School Board Presidents from the Chesters, Mendhams and Washington Township to explore options for saving school tax dollars. The Board invited New Jersey School Boards Attorney Mike Kaelber to its March 22 meeting to discuss all of the district’s options and answer questions from the board members and public. Mr. Kaelber educated attendees regarding the process and considerations involved in a tax allocation change as well as regionalization and de-regionalization or dissolution.

At its Feb. 28 meeting, the board discussed resolutions sent by the Mayors of Chester Borough, Mendham Twp and Mendham Borough asking for a referendum to change the tax allocation from one based on property values to one based on per pupil costs. Chester Twp. sent the West Morris board a similar resolution on March 1. At its March 21 meeting, the Washington Twp. Committee subsequently requested that the West Morris Regional High School District and all boards in the regional district investigate a single regional K-12 district which could offer both educational and tax benefits.

West Morris Board members decided to defer a decision on putting the question to a vote due to several well-founded concerns. The board was formally approached only a month before the election deadline and felt that there was insufficient time to gather the data needed for all issues to be explored. Board members asked for a reasonable opportunity to look at the facts and collect pertinent data before making a decision. According to Mr. Kaelber, districts considering similar questions have spent significantly more time to gather reliable data than West Morris has.

Another issue of concern for the West Morris Board is that an affirmative vote on a referendum could potentially prohibit the district from asking for another change for 10 years. While some towns might see a tax decrease with a per pupil formula, others might find that their taxes increase due to a shift in enrollment. For this reason as well as a desire to explore ways to save instead of shift tax dollars, the board has asked for more complete data including demographic projections by town before rushing any question to the community.

The West Morris Board takes this issue very seriously and would like to extend the dialogue between the governing bodies and constituent Boards of Education. The Board would like to provide the first opportunity in 52 years to talk about these options in a meaningful, productive forum.