The boards of education in the Freehold Borough K-8 School District and the Freehold Township K-8 School District appear to be ready to move the annual school election fromApril to the date of the general election in November.
Abill signed into law on Jan. 17 by Gov. Chris Christie gives school boards the option of moving the date of the election.
Freehold Borough K-8 School District Business Administrator Patrick De George said that at its meeting on Jan. 23, the Board of Education was expected to discuss a resolution to move the election from April to November.
The meeting was held after the deadline for this edition.
“The law gives school districts the unilateral option to move the school election to November and in so doing, if the budget (proposed for the upcoming school year) is at or below the statutory tax levy cap, then the budget does not need to be voted upon” by residents, De George said. He said the Freehold Borough board was expected to discuss the option and planned to take action to move the date of the election.
Later this year, the board expects to propose a 2012-13 school year budget that will be within the tax levy limit and will not require a vote by residents, he said.
De George said moving the election to November will provide savings to the district because the district will no longer have to pay to conduct the April election. The savings will be in the thousands of dollars, he said.
De George said he has informed Borough Administrator Joseph Bellina about the board’s intention to move the school board election to November.
The Freehold Township K-8 School District Board of Education was expected to review a resolution on Jan. 24 favoring a move of the school election from April to November, according to Brian Boyle, the district’s business administrator.
That meeting was held after the deadline for this edition.
Boyle said moving the school election to the date of the general election in November will result in a savings to the board because the district will no longer have to foot the bill for the April election.
Once the change to a November election is made by the board, the panel cannot change the election date back to April for a minimum of four years, according to the law.
In both districts, board members whose terms would have ended in April will have their terms extended through December. Residents who win a seat on the school board in the November election will join their respective board in January 2013.