The Sayreville Board of Education voted to move school board elections from April to November during its meeting on Feb. 5.
School board members discussed placing the election change from April to November as a question on the ballot, but the idea did not come to fruition.
Recently, more support was drummed up for the move due to concern expressed by school board President Michael Macagnone over protecting the budget from cuts that may result due to Hurricane Sandy costs. As long as the annual school budget remainswithina2percentcap, the budget will not go up for a public vote if the election is moved to November.
“The most important thing is that the budget gets passed,” Macagnone has said. “Particularly, it may be of issue this year because of [Hurricane Sandy]. There will be houses no longer on the tax rolls and the municipality has significant overtime pay increases, which jeopardize the school budget.”
School safety also came up as a concern after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings on Dec. 14 in Newtown, Conn. An appeal to the Middlesex County Board of Elections in 2009 to move polling places out of schools was denied, and moving the election from April to November was introduced as a way to reduce the amount of strangers in school buildings while classes are in session.
Sayreville Board of Education members declined to second the motion proposed by Macagnone to move the election in 2011, making it one of the few districts to hold its school board election in April last year. Sayreville now joins almost every other district in Middlesex County making the move from April to November.