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P.O. Box 909 ● Trenton, NJ 08605-0909 ● Phone: 609.695.7600 ● Fax: 609.695.0413 ● Web: www.njsba.org/PI |
NEWS RELEASE CONTACT: Frank Belluscio (fbelluscio@njsba.org) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Additional State Aid Boosts Voter Approvals TRENTON, April 19, 2007 – Voters approved about 78 percent of the proposed school budgets during the April 17school elections - marking a sharp increase over last year's 52 percent approval rate, according to unofficial preliminary results compiled by the New Jersey School Boards Association. Voters in more than 90 percent of New Jersey's school districts decided school budgets for the 2007-2008 year and elected candidates to fill 1,627 school board seats. NJSBA's Annual School Election Backgrounders and Results "It's quite simple: Additional state aid helps to alleviate the burden on property taxes and promotes community support for the schools," said Edwina M. Lee, NJSBA executive director. "On Tuesday, citizens responded positively with their votes. Voters approved 78.3 percent, or 426 school budgets in the 544 districts that reported results, according to preliminary results from the New Jersey Department of Education. The department also reported that voter participation, at 13.9 percent, was down from last year's voter turnout of 15.7 percent. "This year, school districts received their first meaningful influx of state aide since 2001" Lee explained. "In recent years, the highest budget approval rates occurred in 2000 and 2001, when voters approved 88 percent and 81 percent of school budgets, respectively. Those were also the last two years that the state fully funded public schools, as called for by our state's own funding formula. New Jersey has all but abandoned its school funding formula, according to Lee. The Corzine administration plans to propose a new school finance system to the Legislature in November. Above-Cap Questions Voters in 65 school districts also acted on 87 additional ballot questions. Often referred to as "second ballot questions," these questions call for spending beyond a school districts budget cap. Voters approved 40 of the 87 additional questions this year, or 45.9 percent, according to unofficial results. Last year, voters approved 33 percent of the additional budget proposals, and in 2005 they approved 41.8 percent. Construction Bonds Eighteen other school boards asked voters to approve school bond referendums for construction projects. Voters approved 16 of the 18 construction plans for a total of $82.14 million of the $161.9 million that was proposed. The two rejected school construction referendums were in River Edge in Bergen County and Edison Township in Middlesex County. The Annual School Election, held on the third Tuesday of each April, is one of five dates a year when school boards can schedule special bond referendums. The next date will be Sept. 25. Non-Monetary Questions Voters in four districts decided non-monetary issues on Tuesday. Three districts asked voters to decrease the number of members on their local school boards: Pemberton Borough approved a change from seven to five members; Shiloh approved changing from nine to five; and Lincoln Park approved changing from nine to seven. Voters in the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District approved a change in how it apportions costs between its two municipalities. The plan would change cost-apportionment from a system based on property valuation to one that uses each community's student enrollment. West Windsor-Plainsboro now becomes one of only a handful of the state's 70 regional school districts to base cost apportionment on enrollment. Effects of Storm This year's Annual School Election came after a nor'easter flooded some communities. However, only three school districts - Fairfield Township Elementary in Essex County, and Bound Brook and Manville in Somerset County - were forced to postpone their school elections, according to county election officials. Election results also could not be issued for the West Essex Regional High School District because Fairfield Township is part of the regional district. Bound Brook and Manville school districts in Somerset County will hold elections May 1. Update: After elections were rescheduled, voters rejected the budgets in the two Somerset County districts, and the budgets in the two Essex County districts passed. The last time school elections were postponed occurred by order of the governor after a snow storm hit part of the state in 1982. At that time, the annual school elections were held on the first Tuesday in April, and elections in the northern part of the state were postponed for two weeks. Rejected budgets If voters reject either a base budget or an additional spending question to exceed the base budget, the proposal is sent to the municipal governing body for review. The municipality can leave the budget intact, or make cuts. Under certain circumstances, a school board may appeal a municipality's cuts to the school districts base budget - if the cuts would undermine the school district's financial stability, or if the cuts would prevent the school district from meeting state standards for a thorough education. Budget appeals to the state are rare: there were two last year, and there were three in 2005. However, the school board cannot appeal to the state any cuts the municipality makes to a defeated second ballot question. The municipality makes the final decision whether to restore some, all or none of the funding in a defeated second question.
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