EDISON – The Edison Township Council is discussing moving the Board of Education elections from November back to April.
Council President Alvaro Gomez said for the past few months, he has received email inquiries into moving the BOE elections. In 2015, the Edison school board had joined the majority of school districts in New Jersey to move their Board of Education elections to November.
“I asked the attorney [William Northgrave] to look into what does it entail,” Gomez said at a council meeting on Jan. 9.
Northgrave said the move would require a resolution passed by the Township Council or the Board of Education.
“This body can make that determination,” he said, adding the statute requires the council to notify the Board of Education.
Councilman Michael Lombardi noted there may be issues of shortened board terms if the elections were to move from November to April. Northgrave said the move would inadvertently shorten terms of board members.
Resident Lois Wolke said she was in favor of moving the Board of Education elections back to April. She said she had been going to board meetings for years and has become disappointed on how the board uses its funds. Part of the agreement in switching the elections to November was that the school board did not have to put its budget up for a vote if it remained under the 2 percent cap.
The council had initially called a special meeting to discuss the annual Board of Education election move on Jan. 16; however, the meeting was canceled.
“I am canceling the special meeting to give Township Council members more time to gather relevant information so we can make an informed decision about switching our school board elections to the first Tuesday in April,” Gomez said. “The council will reschedule its discussion of this issue once we have time to consider the relevant details.”
At the council meeting on Jan. 9, Northgrave said the statute requires 85-day notice for the election to move this year, which is Jan. 21. Gomez said it is unlikely the Township Council will be prepared to vote before the deadline.
“We need more time to gather all of the necessary relevant information, to weigh the pros and cons, and to make an informed decision,” he said.
Gomez added the topic of switching the election from November to April is still on the table.
“It remains open for discussion among council members, with our school board and, more importantly, with our residents whose opinions matter most,” he said.
Board President Jerry Shi said there are pros and cons of the school election in both November and April.
“We need more discussions on which way to go,” he said.
Shi said regardless of where the election ends up, he would like to see greater participation by the residents.
“In the 2018 election we saw tens of thousands of votes casted for Board of Education candidates,” he said. “We should continue to encourage that level of participation and try to exceed those numbers. When residents participate in the process, the process becomes stronger.”
Contact Kathy Chang at [email protected].