As of Tuesday morning, at least 38 school boards had already adopted resolutions to move the date of school board member elections to November 2012 and eliminate the annual vote on proposed school budgets that are at or below the state’s tax levy cap. A large number of school boards are expected to discuss the change in date during upcoming meetings.
Legislation signed by Gov. Chris Christie on Jan. 17 gives a community the option to change the election date through any one of three methods: a resolution by the local board of education; or a resolution by the municipal governing body; or voter referendum.
NJSBA has posted a sample resolution online that school districts may use to change the election date.
Guidelines this Week During a meeting with NJSBA staff Monday, officials of the governor’s office and the New Jersey Department of Education said that guidelines about the November election statute – including the date by which a board must act to make the election change effective for 2012 – would be issued this week. However, they stressed that school boards considering adoption of resolutions this week do not need to wait for the state guidelines to take action to change the election date.
Following release of the state’s guidelines, NJSBA will issue a list of frequently asked questions, which will focus on changes in school board procedures in those districts that change the election date to November.
Budget Process School boards that move the election to November would no longer place proposed base budgets (that is, budgets at or below the 2-percent tax levy cap) on the ballot. All other aspects of the base budget development process and timelines would remain unchanged, including executive county superintendent review and public hearings.
For districts that make the election date change, proposals to spend above the tax levy cap (also called “second questions”) would be presented to voters in November. The statute sets out a process to be followed to adjust the tax rate if voters approve the second question. Second questions, which usually involve expenditures above the levy cap, are infrequent. In the April 2011 school elections, only 11 districts out of 538 made such proposals.
Organization Meeting Once adopted, the election change must remain in effect for four years. In districts with November elections, the annual school board organization meeting would take place during the first week of January. The terms of current school board members which would have expired on or about May 1 would be extended to the January organization date.
|
