Ettman, Hauck, Paul win board seats.
By: Dick Brinster
Voters on Tuesday rejected the East Windsor Regional School District’s budget for the second year in a row, meaning the Board of Education will have to submit the $79.2 million spending measure to the governing bodies of East Windsor and Hightstown for their review.
East Windsor voters opposed the budget 1,022 to 854, and those in Hightstown went against it 148-106.
Under the board-approved budget, the school tax rate would have risen 24 cents in East Windsor and 15 cents in Hightstown, resulting in a tax increase of more than $300 on the average township home and close to $180 in the borough.
Meanwhile, former board President Bruce Ettman won election to a fourth term despite a public dispute with teachers association President Jan Amenhauser that began after her group failed to endorse him.
The East Windsor Education Association backed James Hauck, who won a second term, and Kennedy Paul, running for the first time after being appointed two months ago. The loser in the four-way battle for three, three-year terms was Harjit Bajaj, who proposed a salary cap.
Mr. Paul was the top vote-getter with 1,243, and Mr. Hauck got 1,140. Mr. Ettman received 975 and Mr. Bajaj, 659.
The turnout of 1,763 exceeded the 2005 figure of 1,642, but the vote on the budget was considerably closer with 55 percent in opposition to the measure after 69 percent turned thumbs down a year ago. The municipal governing bodies of the towns now have a month to order changes to the measure, cut by $1 million last year.
For more on the election, see Friday’s edition of the Herald.