Get used to it Evesham Township, the school district is going to go with a big change in 2012.
Member of the Evesham Township Board of Education voted to move the annual school board election to coincide with the November general elections, BOE President Sandy Student reported.
Governor Chris Christie supported a bill that allowed all school districts in the state to move their election to the November general election date.
Additionally, the bill allows all school budgets that fall within the 2-percent cap to be passed automatically, with no approval needed by township voters. A school board would have to present a “second question” for voter approval if a budget is proposed to exceed the 2 percent cap.
Board members whose terms were to have expired in April will be extended through January, pending the results of the November election.
Several members of the board expressed their concerns over township voters losing their say in the budget, but Student said that anytime a governmental entity can encourage more participating in an election it’s a success.
“You go from less than 10 percent to possibly 80 percent in a president year? You have more people to make decisions with this,” Student said. “It’s also a normal election cycle. It’s a full day for people able to vote; it’s not out of the reach of the normalcy. People can vote before their workday and it also would take out the possibility of the election happening during spring vacation. I don’t see a negative. Anytime more people participate in the electoral process, that’s a great thing.”
With each budget automatically passing if under the 2 percent cap, Student said it becomes more important for the BOE members to analyze and look critically at each school district budget.
The school district elections will have their own section carved out on the election ballot, Student said. While some have expressed concerns that voters will only fill out the general election information, Student was skeptical that many would do so.
Would it be less than 10 percent, he asked, something the board sees in its own election turnout some years.
The BOE will still hold a public hearing of the budget and will still invite plenty of public input, he said.
The school district pays between $23,000 and $25,000 each year to hold the elections, Student said, and with the federal, state, county, municipal and school elections all being held on the same date, it would spread that cost across several entities.
The way the bill is written, the school district would be responsible for any additional costs that the County Board of Elections incurs if it holds the election in November.
Any BOE member who is scheduled to lose a seat this year in April will have their terms extended to January. The school district’s reorganization meeting must be held after Jan. 1, 2013.
