Voters will head to the polls in 13 districts for the April 25 annual school board elections, electing board members and voting on proposed school budgets.
The original date of Tuesday, April 18, was moved to April 25 because it coincides with the last ten days of Ramadan: the high holy days. N.J.S.A.19:60-1 provides the Commissioner of Education the authority to change the annual school election date when it coincides with a period of religious observance.
The districts holding elections include Cliffside Park and Fairview in Bergen County; Irvington and Newark in Essex County; North Bergen, Weehawken and West New York in Hudson County; East Hanover in Morris County; New Brunswick in Middlesex County; Passaic and Totowa in Passaic County; Fredon and Montague in Sussex County; and Westfield in Union County.
The New Jersey School Boards Association has learned of one town with a construction question on the ballot.
In Hudson County, the Weehawken Board of Education is seeking authorization from the voters to (a) to undertake building improvements and upgrades to the Daniel Webster Elementary School, Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School and Weehawken High School, including replacement of existing roofs, security upgrades, gymnasium upgrades, HVAC upgrades, and all work and materials necessary therefor and incidental thereto; (b) to undertake building improvements and upgrades to the Woodrow Wilson Elementary School, including classroom renovations and upgrades, Americans with Disability Act compliant toilet room upgrades, construction of a media center, installation of an elevator, security and fire prevention upgrades, and all work and materials necessary therefor and incidental thereto; (c) to spend for the foregoing not exceeding $18,759,000; and (d) to issue bonds of the school district for the foregoing in a principal amount not exceeding $18,759,000.
The approved state aid for school facilities projects is in the form of annual state debt service aid, with the amount of such annual state aid to be 40% of the annual principal and interest payable on $2,151,376 bonds, being the final project costs approved by the state for school facilities projects pursuant to the Educational Facilities Construction and Financing Act, P.L. 2000, c. 72.
Total bonding amount proposed: $18,759,000.
State funding: $860,550.40.
Stay tuned to School Board Notes, which will report the result of the above question as it becomes available.