Moving BOE elections may not apply to SOMa

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer

South Orange-Maplewood may not be eligible to move its annual school-board election from April to November, officials said Jan. 27.

School board President Beth Daugherty said the district fell through the “cracks” of a new law giving towns and school boards that option. Maplewood’s municipal legal department is researching the matter, said Township Committeeman Jerry Ryan.

“The law might not apply to us,” said Ryan in a phone interview Friday.

Daugherty said she was hopeful that an amendment to the law will be drafted to include the district, but that the change may not come in time to meet a deadline later this month.

In January, Gov. Chris Christie signed into law a bill that allows either a school board or the local municipal governing body of that district to move the school election from April to the general election date in November.

Another provision of the law says districts that make the switch do not have to put their budgets up for voter approval — so long as the spending plan meets “levy cap requirements.”

The state last week issued an advisory saying that towns and schools boards interested in making the switch must pass the necessary resolutions and notify their respective county clerks by Feb. 17.

But South Orange-Maplewood is an anomaly among school districts in New Jersey. It has an elected school board, but residents do not vote on the school budget.

Rather, the board of school estimate is responsible for setting the tax levy. Allison Kobus, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Education, said that South Orange-Maplewood could switch the vote to November for its school board candidates election.

School elections historically have low voter turnout, a trend that held true in 2011. Last year, 9.6 percent of voters in South Orange, and 9.85 percent in Maplewood, went to the polls, South Orange Trustee Michael Goldberg said.

Also, the district has to pay for the election. In 2011, that cost was $35,976, according to the district’s business office.

The Feb. 17 date is not a deadline written into the law. Still, the state is telling towns to use it since it “would provide the appropriate time to avoid potentially unnecessary expenses related to preparing for an April election; and also provides due notice to any person interested in filing a nomination for an April election,” according to an information sheet by the state Department of Community Affairs.

School-board elections would remain nonpartisan. Candidates, who would have until the date of the June primary to file nominating petitions, would occupy a “separate section” of the ballot, the state said.

The state also said that if a town or school board made the switch, the decision would remain in effect for four years before it could be moved back to April.

Ryan said he favors going to November elections and abolishing the board of school estimate. The school board will discuss this matter at its meeting Feb. 8 at 8:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Columbia High School. Action may be taken.

Philip Sean Curran can be reached at 908-686-7700, ext. 116, or at newsrecord@thelocalsource.com.