New Law Lets Schools Move Election, Pass Budget Without Voter Approval

A new law now gives individual school districts the ability to not only move board elections to the November ballot, but also pass budgets without voter approval.

Supporters of this legislation, signed by Gov. Chris Christie Tuesday, say this move is related to low voter turnout in the April elections.

Under the legislation, the election date can move through one of three methods:

• a resolution by the board of education,
• a resolution by the municipal governing body, or
• public question presented to voters in November

Frank Belluscio, spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association, a group in favor of the new law, said several phone calls have reached the association from superintendents, business administrators and school board members interested in making the change to a November election.

"Voters do not get to vote on municipal or county budgets," Belluscio said. "School budgets often bear the brunt of voter dissatisfaction."

The deadline to pass a resolution has not been confirmed yet by the state.

The law is supported by the New Jersey Education Association and the New Jersey School Boards Association (NJSBA). However, according to an NJSBA spokesman, the group did seek an amendment that would have removed the municipal governing body's authority to change the date unilaterally.

The Cedar Grove and Verona Boards of Education both meet tonight. The Cedar Grove district posted a letter to parents on its website this week detailing the new law, which would allow the district to pass its budget without a public vote, provided it does not exceed the 2 percent tax levy. The district says it will discuss the law at tonight's meeting, which starts at 8 p.m. at North End Elementary School, 122 Stevens Ave.

In Verona, School Board President John Quattrocchi said Tuesday that a "light discussion" of the new law was on the agenda for tonight's Board of Education meeting, which starts tonight at 8 p.m. at the Verona High School Library, 151 Fairview Ave.

Quattrocchi said he would support a decision by the district to move elections to November and adopt the provisions of the law doing away with voter-approved budgets.

"As much as I want to have control over public spending, it doesn't make sense to limit voting to only one of the five pieces of every Verona resident's tax bill," he said in a telephone interview.

"There's a lot of focus on the school portion of tax bills. The reality is, our school budget is around $30 million. If you add up our township, municipal, state, county and federal portions, residents of Verona pay over a quarter-billion dollars in taxes each year."

Quattrocchi said he feels enacting changes in the law would benefit the district, and free up board members' time normally spent discussing the budget to focus on what they're supposed to do, "Educating our kids."