BY TOM CAIAZZA
Staff Writer
ABERDEEN – The Matawan-Aberdeen Board of Education elected Aberdeen’s Carolyn Williams as its president at the April 24 reorganization meeting, amidst concerns over a lack of board unity and the fifth straight failed school budget.
Patricia Demarest, also of Aberdeen, was appointed board vice president, despite calls from Matawan delegates to continue a tradition of one position being filled by Aberdeen and the other from Matawan.
Board members Gerald Donaghue and Lawrence O’Connell said that they were disheartened that both positions were in the hands of Aberdeen delegates.
Former President Catherine Zavorskas said that one town has held both positions in the past.
Superintendent Bruce Quinn said the board has sent the “budget defeat package” to the two town councils, which will review the budget and could recommend cuts to it in order to reduce the tax rate. The process will take three weeks, Quinn said.
This is the fifth consecutive time the councils have had to rework the budget, creating concern among board members as to why the public continuously defeats the spending plans. One of the factors some felt played a part was a lack of unity on the board, which could be seen in the board’s 6-3 vote to send the budget to the polls.
Board member Charles Kenny said that was not the case.
“It has been implied that a lack of board unity is what made it fail,” Kenny said. “The budget failed for reasons that do not have anything to do with how the board voted.”
Concerns over the $1.5 million capital outlay designated for field renovations at the high school was also named as a possible contributor to the budget’s defeat at the polls. Demarest said, however, that the field has not affected the budget not carrying in the past.
“The budget went down in the last four years without the field,” Demarest said.
Demarest has said that the budget has been defeated in earlier years, even when it included improvement plans for stronger security after the fire at Matawan Avenue Middle School.
Zavorskas called for the public and the board to put pressure on state legislators to rework the state aid formula that has resulted in inadequate funding for middle-income districts like Matawan-Aberdeen.
She said that the state aid contribution to the budget is around $11 million, or about 20 percent of the budget, which is about half the percentage it once relied on. The flat aid number has equated to a loss of money, she said, because costs have gone up while aid has remained at the same level it has been for several years. She called for the public and the board to reach out to legislators to reform the aid system.
“We need your help in fighting the Legislature,” Zavorskas said to members of the audience.
O’Connell disagreed, saying that it is the board’s responsibility to run as efficient a district as possible, even if it means tightening belts.
“I hated to vote against the budget,” O’Connell said. He said the board had to maximize the performance of the students while keeping an eye on the needs of taxpayers.
“I disagree that you should be going to Trenton,” O’Connell said. “The buck stops at this board.”
O’Connell likened the current budget issue to a family dealing with a financial catastrophe and said that the board should be more efficient on all levels. O’Connell said that the board should be “enrolling the public in the budget process.”
Board member Kenneth Aitken voted against the budget in March because he felt the lease-purchase agreement, which was put in place before the budget was voted on by the public, denied them the right to decide a “major capital project.” He said he was hopeful, though, that the installation of Williams would make an impact on the future of the district.
“We have a new president,” Aitken said. “I am hoping we can have a new start.”