West Windsor, Plainsboro voters approve school budget

Katz, Fleres and Gharpure elected to board

By: Emily Craighead
   Implementing referendum projects tops the list of major tasks facing the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional Board of Education after it reorganizes next week in the wake of Tuesday’s board election and successful budget referendum.
   The board, including newly elected members Anthony Fleres, with 398 votes and Anjani Gharpure with 385 votes, both of Plainsboro, and incumbent Stan Katz, with 988 votes, of West Windsor, also will face many policy and curriculum decisions in the upcoming year.
   They will do so with the support of community members who approved the 2006-2007 budget.
   Voters said yes to the $141.1 million budget by a vote of 440-302 in Plainsboro and 835-735 in West Windsor. The approved budget represents a 3.9-percent increase.
   "We’re just thankful that people saw it appropriate to pass the budget, which is an important tool for us," Superintendent Robert Loretan said.
   Dr. Loretan said he is pleased the budget passed, but concerned that more voters didn’t take the opportunity to make their voices heard.
   In West Windsor, 11.3 percent of registered voters cast votes in the school election, while 7.9 percent of registered voters in Plainsboro participated in the school election.
   For a home in Plainsboro valued at the township average of $402,000, school taxes will increase by $141.50, bringing the total school tax to $5,838.
   Because West Windsor is undergoing a communitywide property revaluation, officials said it is impossible to determine what the impact will be on individual homeowners. That information will be available when the assessments are complete, officials said.
   Many citizens are still unhappy with the school budget.
   "You can see from the way people voted, people are concerned about the finances of the district," Mr. Fleres said.
   Neal Phenes, who earned 190 votes in Plainsboro, said he hopes those elected to the board will work to keep taxes down.
   "You can be as successful if not better and not spend so many taxpayer dollars," he said.
   The youngest candidate, 18-year-old Christopher Pordon of Plainsboro, also urged the board members to exercise fiscal restraint and to serve all of their constituents, not just those with children.
   "I hope the new members and continuing members will keep in mind the needs of the different groups they represent," Mr. Pordon said. He received 320 votes.
   With some facilities referendum projects set to get under way this summer, Administration and Facilities Committee Chairwoman Ellen Walsh said the board will seek to put a construction manager in place soon. The board will also be reviewing building use policies and setting up guidelines for using the artificial turf fields that will be installed at both high schools in the spring.
   The board will also begin to discuss the need for security infrastructure at the schools.
   In the area of curriculum, the board will consider whether to continue the senior option internship program at the high schools.
   As a result of issues raised by West Windsor school board candidate Brett Boal, the continuing question of the middle school curriculum also will be addressed, Mr. Katz said. Some changes to the middle school program recommended by a study team have been under consideration for the past several months, but others remain.
   "There are major issues to be debated and decided," Mr. Katz said.
   These are issues Ms. Gharpure, who in her campaign emphasized maintaining educational excellence in the schools, said she is also eager to work on.
   Mr. Boal, who received 465 votes in West Windsor, said he is pleased to have brought more visibility to issues related to excellence in all areas of the curriculum in the district during the campaign.
   During Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting, board members discussed the need to offer voters an opportunity to see the candidates together in a public forum. Previously. the League of Women Voters hosted a forum, but the event was not held this year.
   "The issue of communication is going to be a really big one, especially if the state is having an ongoing fiscal crisis," Mr. Katz said.
   The newly elected board members will be sworn in at Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting at 7:30 p.m. at Grover Middle School. The board president and vice president will also be appointed.