School Board Asks State To Delay Vote

In a unanimous vote, Springfield's Board of Education voted to send a resolution to Trenton asking the state to postpone this year's school budget election. The boards, and dozens of other districts, believe New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's school budget policies make it impossible for the district to finalize a budget to meet the deadline for an April 20 vote.

Christie will release the numbers for state aid to schools on March 16. The budgets must be finalized for placement on ballots and presented to the public by April 3. School Board members don't know how much state aid will be cut until then, but they've been warned it could be as high as 15 percent. Because of the uncertainty, the school board has been unable to work on a final budget; they've instead prepared budget plans for a number of possible scenarios.

Springfield residents can vote directly on the school budget. In a normal year, the board would have begun preparing their budget presentations for the public by now. The board believes three weeks between release of the state aid numbers and ballot placement does not give them enough time to inform the public about the budget.

The vote on the school budget, and for new school board members, would be pushed back from April to the general election in November. Four people are running unopposed for the board. About $16,000 is allotted for election costs in the school budget. In light of the uncontested election, the board briefly discussed forgoing the vote to save money, but they are legally required to hold it.

The resolution was voted on at the board's March 8 meeting after little discussion. In 1992, lawmakers voted to delay that year's school board vote by three weeks.