Titusville-area residents Aaron Tellier, of Forrest Blend Drive, and James Wulf, of Hart Court, were elected to three-year terms on the school board
By John Tredrea
A $69 million base budget that includes fees for some school busing and extracurricular activities and a $657,100 second ballot question for capital projects both passed in Tuesday’s school district election.
Titusville-area residents Aaron Tellier, of Forrest Blend Drive, and James Wulf, of Hart Court, were elected to three-year terms on the school board, defeating five other township candidates that included incumbents Kim Newport and Werner Graf. Ms. Newport, the current board president, has been on the school board for eight years.
Running unopposed from Hopewell Borough, Melvin Myers, of West Prospect Street, was re-elected to a three-year term on the school board with 210 votes.
With 22.6 percent of the Hopewell Valley Regional School District’s registered voters going to the polls, the budget passed by 231 votes. There were 1,762 yes votes on the budget against 1,531 no votes. The outcome was considerably closer on the second ballot question, which passed by 75 votes, 1,679 to 1,604.
The amount that must be raised by local taxes to support the $69 million base budget is $57,264,391. That was the sum approved at Tuesday’s election.
Mr. Tellier, who ran as a slate with Mr. Wulf, led the field of seven township candidates with 1,262 votes. Mr. Wulf had 1,149. Ms. Newport came in third, with 908 votes. Her running mate Robert Gehm, who was seeking a first term, was next with 624 votes. Incumbent Werner Graf had 256 votes. Ken Hansen had 248. Neil Seftor had 228.
Board Vice President Linda Mitchell said she was "very pleased that both the budget and second question passed. The school board made every effort to create a budget that was fiscally responsible while maintaining the caliber of our schools."
Ms. Mitchell added that she was "glad there was a larger voter turnout this year." Just over 18 percent of registered voters went to the polls in April 2006.
On the election of Messrs. Tellier and Wulf to the board, Ms. Mitchell said: "I’m optimistic that our new board members will step up to the awesome responsibilities that lay before them and will be eager to become fully informed of all components of the issues."
She also expressed admiration for Ms. Newport and thanked the outgoing board president for her service. "Kim Newport has admirably served this community for eight years on our school board," Ms. Mitchell said. "Her integrity and commitment will be sorely missed."
The election returns were tabulated at the district’s administrative headquarters, at 425 S. Main St., Pennington, where Ms. Mitchell was reached for comment.
Pennington’s board member, Kevin Doran, who chairs the board’s Finance Committee, was also there. "We’re pleased as a board that the budget and second question both passed," Mr. Doran said. "The board expended a lot of effort to make sure the budget made sense from a taxpayer standpoint. I think we accomplished that."
Reacting to the election outcome Wednesday morning, Mr. Tellier said: "I think we have a great school system. Nothing I’ve said or done during the campaign should be taken to the contrary. I think the message of the election was very clear. Part of the message is the voter turnout there was a 25 percent increase in turnout over last year. I think that’s a real accomplishment. I think the message was loud and clear that the people of Hopewell Township support the school system, but they think it’s time for a change of leadership."
Mr. Tellier said the facts that the budget and separate question both passed while he and Mr. Wulf won handily supports his view that the electorate thinks the school system is excellent, but wants a change in school board membership. He said he and Mr. Wulf heard that viewpoint expressed by hundreds of people during the campaign.
"The school board president was running for re-election," he said. "If people wanted more of the same leadership, they would have re-elected the board president."
Mr. Tellier added that, as board members, the guiding principles of himself and Mr. Wulf are "fiscal responsibility, sensible priorities and open discussion and public debate."
Issues of continuing concern to them, Mr. Tellier noted, are hazardous busing, reduction of primary strings to first grade only, and the high school auto shop program.
THE FEES that will be charged in the 2007-2008 school year for some school busing and extracurricular activities are new to the Hopewell Valley district. In addition, the Primary Strings program of required violin instruction in grades one to three has been reduced to just first grade. Before or after-school violin instruction, for a fee, will be available to second- and third-graders.
Specifics on items new to the budget this year include:
Fees for extracurricular activities at Central High School and Timberlane Middle School will be set at $100 per activity at the high school and $50 per activity at Timberlane. However, the maximum amount in fees a family can be charged is $200. No maximum has been set on how many activities students from a family can participate in. Also, no fee will be charged if the teacher or other individual in charge of the activity is not paid a stipend.
Parents of students in grades six-12 who are not entitled to busing under state law will have to pay a portion of the cost $150 per bus seat for the 2007-2008 school year under the budget the voters have approved. The district’s average per-pupil busing cost is $500, officials say. State law requires the district to bus elementary students who live more than two miles from school and secondary students who live more than two and a half miles from school. This means that, under the approved budget, the parents or guardians of children who live closer to school than those cutoff distances will have to pay $150 for the year to get bus service.
Superintendent Judith A. Ferguson has said that her recommendation is that no family be required to pay more than $300 per year, no matter how many of its children ride the bus. An estimated 450 students are affected by the institution of this so-called subscription busing program this year. These students would have to walk what district officials say is a hazardous route if they didn’t have a bus.
THE SECOND BUDGET question approved by the voters Tuesday will pay for four capital projects. They are:
A solar-powered energy system at a yet-to-be-determined school, for $400,000.
New front door security systems for all the schools, for $87,000.
Replacement of a faulty clock and bell system at Central High School, for $21,500.
Paving at Central High School and Timberlane Middle School, for $148,600. Included are the bus loop at Timberlane Middle School and a portion of the high school parking lot near the auditorium.
ACCORDING to Assistant Business Administrator Robert Colavita, approval of both the base budget and second question mean the district’s total tax levy will increase 3.98 percent over last year. A new state law limits the maximum increase in the tax levy to 4 percent. Approval of only the base would have yielded a tax levy increase of 2.9 percent.
"Even with the second question included, this budget represents the district’s lowest increase in the overall tax levy in more than 20 years," Mr. Colavita said March 26 at the public hearing on the budget.
Because of changes in assessed property values resulting from property revaluations in all three of the district’s municipalities, the towns will see differing tax impacts under the spending plan approved by the voters. Mr. Colavita said the disparity is due to changes in the share each municipality will pay as a result of the property revaluations. Use of a state-mandated equalization formula yields different tax impacts for each community.
Estimated tax impacts of approval of the budget and second ballot question are:
Hopewell Borough The school tax rate will increase an estimated 6 cents per $100 of assessed property value. This means that a house assessed at $452,312, the Hopewell Borough average, will see an estimated total annual tax increase of $276. For that average-assessed home, this increase will yield an estimated total 2007-2008 school tax bill of $5,066.
Hopewell Township For the owner of a Hopewell Township house assessed at $549,400, the township average, estimated figures show that total annual school taxes will go down slightly as a result of both the budget and second question being approved, although the tax rate itself will increase slightly. In the township, approval of both the budget and separate question will result in an estimated tax rate increase of 2 cents per $100 of assessed property value. For the average-assessed township house, the total estimated annual tax bill for 2007 will drop $35 from last year.
Pennington Borough For the owner of a Pennington Borough house assessed at $527,000, the borough average, the annual tax bill will go up an estimated $84. This means the tax bill for the owner of that average assessed house will be an estimated $5,797 (an estimated tax rate increase of 2 cents).

