Page 12 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • February 15, 2012 FLOW Area Regional school board considers fall election by Frank J. McMahon On Feb. 15, the Ramapo Indian Hills Board of Education may decide to move the school board election to the day of the November general election. If the board moves the election to November, voters would still be asked to cast their ballots on the school board candidates, but would not vote on the school budget as long as the spending plan falls within the cap, which is currently two percent. During a general discussion of the issue at the last public meeting, three trustees voiced opinions in favor of moving the election, and no trustees indicated a desire to keep the election date in April, although two members of the public spoke out against moving the election from its current date. School Board President Ira Belsky said he favored holding the election at a time when more people would come out to the polls, and Isabelle Lanini and Thomas Bunting, two Wyckoff representatives on the regional school board, concurred. “We live in a community where a lot of people support the school board, but they don’t come out to vote, while those who are against something do come out to vote,” Belsky said. “It’s better to have more people come out to vote, rather than only those who are most active in the district.” Belsky pointed out there is also a strong benefit to moving the election to November because the board of education would not be able to exceed the two percent budget cap, which would make it easier to negotiate with the employee associations, and it would put the board in a better negotiating position. “I’ve come to the judgment that the district would be better off to move the election,” Belsky said. “There would be a cost savings to the district and the taxpayers.” Lanini pointed out that, when a school budget is voted down by the taxpayers, sometimes it is because they don’t like a particular program, and the result is detrimental to the district because line items are then reduced arbitrarily by the governing bodies in the three towns in the regional district. Bunting said he wants as many people as possible voting for school board members and the highest turnout is for the general election. Susan Winton, a Wyckoff resident who said she was a member of the regional school board from 1977 to 1983, said she is concerned about moving the election to November because it could politicize the election of school board members, and it would take away the right of the people to vote on the school district’s budget. “What you do and say affects a lot of people,” Winton said. “Don’t consider a change that would take away the right of people to let their views be known.” James Blasie, another Wyckoff resident, voiced the concern that, if the election were moved to November, there would be a “lame duck” period between the election date each year and the following January when the new trustees are sworn-in just at the time of year when the board needs experienced people. He also claimed there would still be costs involved if the election date were moved. “What money might be saved is not worth it to me. It is an alienation of the people,” Blasie said. Frank Ceurvels, the school district’s business administrator, pointed out that, Registration is under way for two eightweek autobiography workshops with Janice Rubin. The program will be held on Tuesdays or Thursdays at Presbyterian Church at Franklin Lakes, 730 Franklin Lake Road. The Tuesday workshop will begin March 13, and the Thursday workshop will begin March 15. Classes meet from 12:30 to 2:30 Autobiography workshop set p.m. Tuition is $104. Rubin, author of “Looking Back, Moving On” and “Four Lives,” provides new students with a 19-page syllabus to guide them as they write at home and share their stories in class. To register, visit www.autobiowrkshp. com or call (201) 337-6478. whether the election stays in April or moves to November, the budget must still be submitted to the county the first week in March for approval, and a public hearing on the budget will be held at the end of March. The deadline for all school boards to decide if they want to move their elections to November is Feb. 17. According to information provided by the New Jersey Department of Education, it is not necessary for all school boards in a regional district to move their election to November, but if all do, the regional district must also move its election. If a school board moves its election to November, it cannot change back to April for four years. When the election is moved, the vote on the annual school budget is eliminated unless there is a need for a special referendum on the ballot to override the cap. Candidates for school boards that move the election to the fall must file their nominating petitions by the June primary election, and the candidates will be listed on a separate section of the ballot and not aligned with any political party or partisan candidates. All terms of current board members would be extended until the reorganization meeting of the board in the first week in January. The new law does not specify a percentage for the cap on the tax levy increase. As a result, school boards that move their elections would be subject to any change in that cap.