BOE Undecided on Election Law, Special Meeting Announced

Update: School officials announced Wednesday a special public work session of the Fort Lee Board of Education on Monday, Feb. 13, at 6:30 p.m. in the Fort Lee School No. 1 all-purpose room. Official action will be taken at the meeting, the purpose of which is "referendum and election law," according to school officials.

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The took public comment Monday on New Jersey’s new school election law, but the board didn’t take action on the question of whether to move school board elections from April to November, with a Feb. 17 deadline to make such a decision looming.

“We’re not ready to vote tonight; it’s not an option,” said Charlie Luppino, who served as acting board president Monday. “We wanted to hear what the public has to say before we start discussing what we want to do.”

Fort Lee resident Nancy Stern said she was “disappointed” that the board waited so long to discuss the issue instead of doing what other districts have done—discussed it last month and made decisions well in advance of the deadline.

“As many of you have said how difficult this decision is, you really don’t have any time now to wait,” Stern said.

Pressed on the question of when the board could potentially take a vote with their next regular business meeting scheduled for Feb. 27, Luppino said, “We’ve discussed the possibility of another meeting.”

“Something has to be done between Feb. 6 and Feb. 17; we know that,” he said.

Meanwhile, members of the public were divided on the issue, with some people expressing support for moving the election to November, arguing that it would increase voter participation and save on the costs associated with holding an election in April.

Fort Lee resident Howard Pearl also pointed out that it would eliminate the influence on school board elections of groups with specific agendas, which, he said, “are not to the benefit of our children; which are not to the benefit of our community.”

“In the past, candidates have been supported by people from special interest groups, and because of the limited turnout, they could control the candidacy and put people on this board who might not have been elected had these special interest groups not supported them, including people who don’t even live in this town,” Pearl said.

But others argued that moving the election to November when local, county, state and federal politicians are running for office could potentially "politicize" what are supposed to be non-partisan contests, and that if the board makes a decision to move the elections to November, they would be locking themselves in for four years.

“I don’t think the school board should be tied to a party or a group of individuals running for public office,” said Diane Sicheri. “Your job is separate and different and needs to remain that way.”

Nina Levinson said she is “totally opposed” to changing the election.

“It may not start off in a political way, and I’m sure it won’t, but after a certain length of time, some politicians will say, ‘I’d like to see these people on the board, and maybe we can combine our election literature,’” Levinson said. “And I’m afraid that this slowly will creep in.”

Under the new guidelines released by the state in January, districts do have the option of moving school board elections to coincide with the general election in November and eliminating the need to hold budget votes if they keep theirs within the state’s two percent cap on property tax increases. If the budget exceeds that cap, only the specific spending above the cap would be left up to voters to decide.

But Fort Lee school board members for the most part remained undecided on the issue Monday.

“It’s a topic that I have a great deal of concern about, mostly because it’s taking the right to vote [on the budget] away from the public,” said board member Peter Suh. “It’s really a tough decision for me, and I have to really give it some thought.”

But Suh also said that if the board does pass a resolution to move the election to November, “it’s a four-year trial run with every board member getting through an election in November.”

Board member Angela Napolitano said she too was “undecided,” but she also noted that most school budgets in Fort Lee in recent memory have met with voter approval.

“So it wouldn’t be a terrible thing if it was taken away from the public because most people support our budgets,” Napolitano said. “But also, more people would be voting on who your representatives would be, which is a good thing.”

Board member Joseph Surace said he’s in favor of waiting a year and seeing how it works out in other communities whose school districts have already decided to move their elections to November, pointing out that board members “can always change our minds.”

But Surace also said he was concerned about the state allowing municipal governments to make decisions on school board elections, a sentiment echoed by Luppino.

“We have the opportunity to decide for ourselves what we want to do and not have the Mayor and Council decide that for us,” Luppino said. “I think that’s the biggest thing in my mind on why not to [wait]. I would like to keep it in our hands.”

Luppino also said it’s “disheartening” that voter turnout is so low “for whatever we do,” and that moving the election to November could change that.

“I think that a November vote brings more people out, and then, at that time, those people would be more interested in what was going on,” he said.

Fort Lee Councilman Joseph Cervieri, who was in attendance at the BOE meeting Monday, said the Borough Council hasn’t yet discussed the issue.

Stern proposed a “middle ground,” similar to what Surace suggested: leave the election in April this year and “see how it works for everyone in November.”

“You still have the ability to make that change in the future, but the reverse is not true,” she said.

In closing the public hearing, Surace drew applause from the relatively large crowd gathered in the all-purpose room.

“If we keep the budget within the two percent cap, I feel that the public will understand that we’ve done our job,” Surace began, later adding, “I think the public should have the right to vote on the school budget. It’s their children that are being educated in this town.”

For more information regarding the new law, see the State Department of Education’s list of frequently asked questions, which is also attached as a PDF.