Should Montville BOE Move Election to November?

The annual effort by school officials and parent-teacher organizations to have school budgets approved by voters in April could be a thing of the past.

The Montville Board of Education at its next meeting is expected to hear public input and vote on a measure that would move school elections to November.

Board President Dr. Karen Cortellino said she supports moving the election to November and believes enough school board members will vote in favor of making the change.

If the board opts for the switch—more than 100 New Jersey school districts in the couple of weeks since a new state law allowed it—the school budget would not be put to a vote if it stays within a 2 percent cap.

Meanwhile, Board of Education candidates would find themselves on the same ballot as other candidates running for office come November.

The measure is expected to be heard at the next school board meeting scheduled for 8 p.m. Tuesday at the municipal building.

"I will say on the record I am in favor of doing this," Cortellino said at the last Board of Education meeting. "The checks and balances are in place. The budget is capped at 2 percent. We present year after a year a very responsible budget."

Board member Michael Palma said he doesn't think it's fair school boards are the only governing bodies that need their budgets approved by voters, and that the budget vote could politicize the budget creation process in a way that wasn't always best for students.

"We can now have a repsonsbile budget that's based 100 percent on what's best for the kids," Palma said.

As a result of the change, more voters could end up casting ballots for school board candidates than have done so in the past, and towns would save money by not conducting a separate election.

Some board members said the change could create a partisan environment around school elections, but Cortellino said she doesn't think that would be the case because school board candidates would be listed separately from other candidates.

Board Vice President Dr. Matthew Kayne and board members Michael Palma and Jackie Ritschel said at the meeting they support the measure. Board member Carmela Novi said she supports the idea in principle, but wanted to be sure residents had a chance to share their opinions.