BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer
ALLENTOWN – The Borough Council has voted 4-0 to let the second budget question stand as defeated by voters.
Councilman Michael Schumacher abstained from the vote on the May 9 resolution, and Councilman Jerry Rovner did not attend the meeting.
During the election on April 18, voters in Allentown and Upper Freehold Township passed the Upper Freehold Regional School District’s first budget question, which dealt with the bulk of the nearly $28 million budget.
The second question failed in Allentown and Upper Freehold Township in a vote of 720-685. In Upper Freehold, 534 voters defeated the measure, and poll-goers in Allentown turned it down in a 186-175 vote.
Because the regional school district serves Allentown and Upper Freehold, both municipalities would have to agree to restore to the school budget any of the money voters turned down.
On May 4, the Upper Freehold Township Committee voted 3-1 to restore $325,000 of the $556,454 proposed in the second question that voters rejected.
According to borough officials, Allentown’s rejection of restoring any money to the school budget means that restoration cannot go forward thus far.
However, Allentown’s Borough Clerk, Lorene Wright, said that representatives from the governing bodies of both towns will meet to discuss the issue before the May 19 deadline for approval of school budgets.
The money Upper Freehold voted to restore would pay for four new hires in the district. The positions include an additional sixth-grade teacher, as well as three curriculum supervisors/teachers for the math, science and English departments at Allentown High School.