BORDENTOWN TOWNSHIP: District eyes election switch

By Amber Cox, Special Writer
   BORDENTOWN TOWNSHIP — Bordentown Regional School District Superintendent Constance Bauer is recommending the school board switch its April election to November.
   Districts are being advised to adopt resolutions by Feb. 17 to make the switch.
   The Bordentown Regional school board meeting Jan. 25 planned to discuss the issue further and make a decision at last night’s, Feb. 1, board meeting after The Register-News deadline.
   Other districts, including Northern Burlington Regional and Florence, already have made the switch.
   Under the new legislation, if the election is moved to the general election in November, voters no longer will vote on the school budget as long as it is within the 2 percent cap. Voters still will vote on school board members.
   ”Each of the last couple of years, we’ve gone through a reduction,” Dr. Bauer said at the Jan. 25 board meeting. “These have been very difficult decisions for boards of education to have to render.”
   There are three ways in which the vote could be moved to November.
   The board of education, a municipal governing body or voters by way of petition could move the vote to November. In the case of regional school districts, all municipalities involved would have to vote to move the election.
   Dr. Bauer said if the budget were moved to November, she believes the board would continue to put forth a responsible one.
   ”I believe that the Board of Education would continue to exercise the same high level of scrutiny and discretion if it were your responsibility to set the budget that we then send to the county for review,” she said.
   ”A 2 percent cap doesn’t represent much spending growth for a school system. It was less than half a million dollars last year. Any reduction in a proposed budget by way of a defeat, a municipal agreement to a reduction in spending, reduces the base for subsequent year program development that has a ripple effect each year it occurs,” Dr. Bauer said.
   The board did not make a decision at that meeting, but the members made it clear they would like it to be their decision.
   ”We were voted in to represent the school, and regardless of whether we do it in April or November, it should be our decision based on what our taxpayers tell us,” school board Vice President Joann Dansbury said.
   Board member Thomas Potts said he couldn’t see the public wanting to give up the right to vote on the budget.
   ”I’m not saying I agree or disagree, but why would they want to give up the right to vote?” he asked. “They’ve been voting on this forever, and they’ve been shooting it down so the majority will probably want to keep voting on it.”
   Last year, the district spent about $8,500 on the election, according to Business Administrator Eloi Richardson. The district would save on this cost, but it is unclear by how much because it would be responsible for any increased costs in the election.
   If the vote were moved, districts would not be able to move it back to April for another four years.
   Bordentown Township briefly discussed the issue at its Township Committee meeting Monday, Jan. 30.
   Committee members made it clear they would like to hear from the other municipalities involved in the school district, Bordentown City and Fieldsboro, to see in what direction they are leaning.
   The Township Committee plans to discuss the issue further at its next meeting Feb. 13.