Politics & Government

Many at Meeting Want School Elections Moved

Special Board of Education meeting held Feb. 6 to discuss possible move of District elections from April to November.

The Morris School District still has until Feb. 17 to decide whether or not to move school elections to November.

After a special meeting on Monday, however, it appears a lot of people are fine with the possibility.

The Board of Education held the public meeting Feb. 6 in order to get public input on whether or not to move elections from April to November. , but the decision needs to be made within a month. While some, including Superintendent of Schools Thomas Ficarra, , many that spoke up during the meeting said they had faith that the District would make the best decision.

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The Board noted during the meeting that if they opt to move the vote to November, they have to comply with that for four years before revisiting the issue. If they keep it in April this year, the District can revisit it again next year. If the vote moved to November, current board members up for re-election this year will have their terms extended to January, when other elected boards take offices.

An issue with the possible move some have brought up is the removal of a public vote on the school budget unless it exceeds the state-mandated 2 percent cap currently in place for school budgets.

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Board member Angela Rieck noted to the audience that the school budget is the only budget requiring a public vote. "It's the only one," she said. "This would move it in line with other budgets."

That, however, didn't change the mind of Morris Township resident Jim Graybow, who spoke out against the possible move. "I would hope there is no change," he said. "More confusion will only slow the process."

Simona Brinkman, who moved to Morristown less than a year ago, said she didn't want her voting rights taken away from her.

"We need to know where our money is being spent," she said.

Others said they feared school elections–which would not need to declare party affiliations if they moved to the general election in November–would become politically motivated.

"I fear for the children in this district, they don't need to be a part of that," Morristown resident Susan Manahan said.

Many, however, spoke in favor of the possible change.

"The bottom line is I do trust you as a board," said township resident Melissa Spiotta. "Others don't have to go through this process."

Morristown resident Kevin Murtha, a teacher in Morris County, said the fear of some that they are losing a right is not exactly true. "You don't lose rights ... that's done through the ballot box," he said. "The time has come to move the election to November."

"We don't vote on the budget for the Department of Public Works, the police, fire," said Morris Township resident Carl Della Peruti, a former teacher in the Morris School District. "Let's leave the decisions on the budget to the professionals."

Some also noted a change to November could result in more voters deciding on matters concerning school districts, whose elections have historically resulted in low turnouts.

Even after the meeting, though, Graybow was not convinced by such points. "This (the schools budget) is 60 percent of everything [a resident in that municipality pays]. That's big," he said. "This is $4,500 a year out of my pocket. And, what are we getting?"

Regardless of whether people are for or against the move, it is expected to be decided by the Board of Education at its next regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 13.

It's a tough decision not lost on Morris Township resident Kathleen Hyland. "You almost have to be a masochist to be on a Board of Education," she said. "You can change the name of a street, but don't mess with someone's children."


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