School Budget- Council's turn

[BrianSullivan]

newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2010-04-28/Schools/Freehold_council_will_review_school_budget.html

Freehold council will review school budget

BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer
FREEHOLD — Voters in Freehold Borough, as in many other towns around New Jersey last week, spoke their mind with the flick of a wrist, saying no to the 2010-11 school budget in the April 20 school election.

Voters were asked to approve an $8.1 million general fund tax levy to support the Freehold Borough K-8 School District Board of Education’s $20.7 million budget for the 2010-11 school year.

According to the unofficial results, the tax levy was rejected by a count of 548 no votes to 442 yes votes.

“It’s unfortunate that it didn’t pass,” Freehold Borough Superintendent of Schools Elizabeth O’Connell said of the tax levy’s rejection. “It is so difficult to get a budget passed when the governor is against us.”

O’Connell said she found it “questionable” that it was acceptable for Gov. Chris Christie to tell people how to vote on a school budget, but that as a superintendent she does not have the right to suggest to people how they should vote on the budget.

In the first instance the superintendent was referring to the governor’s suggestion to New Jersey residents that they vote down their local school budget if their local teachers union failed to accept a pay freeze for the 2010-11 school year.

The school board and the Freehold Borough Education Association, which represents the district’s teachers, are negotiating a new contract and have not agreed on terms for 2010-11.

In the second instance O’Connell was referring to a prohibition which prevents school personnel from suggesting how residents should vote on a school budget. School administrators are permitted to encourage residents to vote in the election.

Freehold Borough school district administrators will now meet with representatives of the Borough Council to discuss the budget.




The municipality’s governing body is charged with certifying a tax levy for the school district. The council may certify a tax levy lower than $8.1 million, it may suggest specific items to be cut from the budget or it may certify the tax levy at the amount that was proposed by the school board and defeated by the voters.

The school board can accept the dollar amount of the tax levy that is ultimately certified by the council, but it does not have to agree with specific line item cuts. Should the board disagree with the certified tax levy it may appeal to the state commissioner of education.

The Borough Council must certify a tax levy for the school district by May 19.

In the April 20 election for five members of the Board of Education, voters elected Annette Jordan, 428 votes, Kevin Tennant, 383 votes, and Thomas Parke, 371 votes, to three-year terms.

Jordan is a current member of the board.

Board member Audrey Evans was not re-elected, and Bruce Patrick and Susan Greitz were unsuccessful in their bids for a three-year seat.

Ron Reich, a current member of the board, ran unopposed for a two-year unexpired term and was elected to that position with 581 votes.

Daniel Xavier, a current member of the board, and Roxanne Payne ran for a oneyear unexpired term. Xavier won the position with 394 votes. Payne received 298 votes.

[BrianSullivan]

This will be an interesting topic to watch as it now goes to council review. I am hoping the council dives right in. Even more so, with the union negotiations in progress, I really hope the governing body uses some leverage and sends a very solid message to the unions. I have written it before and will do so again.

Every public worker must take a pay freeze and pay the state proposed 1.5 percent of their pay into health benefits.

Non union workers and administrators should do this to set an example.

The unions need a reality check. It is better to take the hit now than to see programs and jobs cut in the future. After all, its for the children, right? This is the time for the unions to prove that it is about the children and the tax payers.

Over the past years, what have the unions done to lobby Trenton to ease the unfunded mandates, get rid of that awful Abbot funding, and abate the soaring costs of the health care benefits? Is the answer to that nothing? If so, they need to look in the mirror, not blame Christy who inherited a disaster, and not blame tax payers who are very rightfully fed up.

If the council does challenge the union, it would be great to see.

Of course, the council meetings will be very interesting. There could be a room full of angry police, firemen, teachers, landlords and only God knows who else. Nobody can call this a boring town.

[adefonzo]

I have to say something here. What really bothered me about the article was the quote from Superintendent Liz O'Connell. “It is so difficult to get a budget passed when the governor is against us.”

I know Liz, and I know she, like most (if not all) in the education field are not just Democrats, but anti-Republican...but this is irresponsible and makes it sound like she's coming up with excuses.

Just like the teacher's union, it's all about "blame the Republican Governor". The fact of the matter is, Freehold Boro has passed maybe a third of it's budgets over the last decade...most of which happened under Democratic Governors, and always under a Democratic State Legislature.

Nevermind the fact that the schools were once again not able to get a decent turnout for the vote. Nevermind that in a year when most people are losing their jobs, taking pay cuts, or at best pay freezes, the school's "positive message" is "we're only going to raise your taxes a little bit, not anywhere near what we could have raised them".

This year, it's the Governor's fault...because he's a Republican, and he dared to challenge schools and teachers.

That's really cheap, and petty. I would have expected more.

[lisas84]

Andrew, I hope all is very well with you on the opposite side of the world.

It's not so much "blame the Republican Governor," as it is "blame the party represented by the Governor (president, senator, etc.) who makes unpopular decisions." An age-old practice.

I believe that Governor Christie has been clear and concise since the latter part of his campaign, apprising people of what he believed in and what measures he was going to take. All this is no surprise. He was voted in by a large margin and is beginning to implement what he said he would.

He promised basically to work his butt off -- and he has a lot of butt to work off -- so y'all better be prepared for a long and arduous gubernatorial work-out session to get back into shape.

[Mike Rosseel]

May 1, 2010 21:11:36 GMT -5 adefonzo said:

I have to say something here. What really bothered me about the article was the quote from Superintendent Liz O'Connell. “It is so difficult to get a budget passed when the governor is against us.”

I know Liz, and I know she, like most (if not all) in the education field are not just Democrats, but anti-Republican...but this is irresponsible and makes it sound like she's coming up with excuses.

Just like the teacher's union, it's all about "blame the Republican Governor". The fact of the matter is, Freehold Boro has passed maybe a third of it's budgets over the last decade...most of which happened under Democratic Governors, and always under a Democratic State Legislature.

Nevermind the fact that the schools were once again not able to get a decent turnout for the vote. Nevermind that in a year when most people are losing their jobs, taking pay cuts, or at best pay freezes, the school's "positive message" is "we're only going to raise your taxes a little bit, not anywhere near what we could have raised them".

This year, it's the Governor's fault...because he's a Republican, and he dared to challenge schools and teachers.

That's really cheap, and petty. I would have expected more.

Well said and agreed 100%

[BrianSullivan]

May 2, 2010 8:00:19 GMT -5 lisas84 said:

Andrew, I hope all is very well with you on the opposite side of the world.

It's not so much "blame the Republican Governor," as it is "blame the party represented by the Governor (president, senator, etc.) who makes unpopular decisions." An age-old practice.

I believe that Governor Christie has been clear and concise since the latter part of his campaign, apprising people of what he believed in and what measures he was going to take. All this is no surprise. He was voted in by a large margin and is beginning to implement what he said he would.

He promised basically to work his butt off -- and he has a lot of butt to work off -- so y'all better be prepared for a long and arduous gubernatorial work-out session to get back into shape.

I meant to get back to this thread earlier. Lisa, your response really says it all. The voters did speak loud and clear, not only when Christy won, but again during the school elections all over the state. Christy does need to be given a chance. He inherited a disaster and it will take a lot of sacrifice from most people to fix the hole we are in.

Andrew was also right to question the superintends remarks. What is sad is that so many in education are saying similar things. The fact is, there is no war on education, there is no war against teachers, and the schools are not entitled to state funding that does not exist.

The schools want more money? Where do they plan on getting it? The tax payers are tired and broke.

I will revisit a sore point for me- Pre K education and the fact that it was mandated. I could be wrong, but I do not recall any member of the BOE complaining about it and they should have. This is a very questionable program. The only people who want it are teachers unions looking for more dues paying members and parents looking for free day care.

Of course, we are not paying for that free day care out of our local taxes, but we are paying for it. Think of all that money being spent that could go elsewhere. That is the problem. Spending. What has the superintend and BOE done to get Trenton to put that in check? If the answer is nothing, then they are a part of the problem and have nothing to complain about when Christy makes tough choices.

When I see letters in the paper from teachers and the NJEA, I have to wonder if they get just how much trouble this state is in. And THAT is NOT Christy's fault.

[richardkelsey]

May 1, 2010 21:11:36 GMT -5 adefonzo said:

I have to say something here. What really bothered me about the article was the quote from Superintendent Liz O'Connell. “It is so difficult to get a budget passed when the governor is against us.”

I know Liz, and I know she, like most (if not all) in the education field are not just Democrats, but anti-Republican...but this is irresponsible and makes it sound like she's coming up with excuses.

Just like the teacher's union, it's all about "blame the Republican Governor". The fact of the matter is, Freehold Boro has passed maybe a third of it's budgets over the last decade...most of which happened under Democratic Governors, and always under a Democratic State Legislature.

Nevermind the fact that the schools were once again not able to get a decent turnout for the vote. Nevermind that in a year when most people are losing their jobs, taking pay cuts, or at best pay freezes, the school's "positive message" is "we're only going to raise your taxes a little bit, not anywhere near what we could have raised them".

This year, it's the Governor's fault...because he's a Republican, and he dared to challenge schools and teachers.

That's really cheap, and petty. I would have expected more.

In New Jersey, under the iron grip of the NJEA, it's "no teacher left behind." :-)

[adefonzo]

I did not hear anything about the Council's decision on the budget after the last council meeting (perhaps it got burried amongst the Fire Dispatcher stories).

Was a decision made, or will a decision be made at the May 17th workshop meeting? According to the article at the top, a decision has to be made by the Council by the 19th.

Hey...I'll actually be back in Freehold on the 17th!!! Do I really want to ruin my vacation by starting it out with a town council meeting?? I mean, there are so many other things going on back home to disappoint and frustrate me, I don't think I'll be adding this to my list of "things to do" while I'm home for a couple of weeks.