Several school districts in New Jersey will be holding their elections in April.
Out of nearly 600 school districts in the state, 16 conduct their elections in spring, with the remaining ones holding theirs on Election Day in November.
Until 2012, all state school elections took place in the spring. However, a new state law enacted that year permitted districts to change their elections to November instead.
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Following the modification, school districts were no longer required to obtain public endorsement for their budget approvals unless those budgets surpassed the newly established statewide limit of a 2% increase.
Only those voters from districts with elections in April previously had a say on school spending plans, but this has been recently altered.
Governor Phil Murphy enacted legislation last year which eliminated the requirement for public budget votes in districts holding April elections, except when those school districts were planning to increase taxes beyond the 2% limit. This exception allows certain school districts to exceed this tax cap prior to needing approval through a public vote, provided they meet specific banking caps.
According to the new legislation, in
For instance, Garfield illustrates that taxpayers won’t get a chance
To cast a ballot for approving the budget, it must be raised above $700,000 according to what the superintendent had stated earlier. Despite this threshold, the district managed to establish a significant “bank cap” without boosting the budget fully up to 2% as seen in previous years. This allowed them to elevate the budget to $5.9 million under the provisions of the bank cap before requiring public approval through voting, he explained.
The 16 districts scheduled for spring elections include: Cliffside Park, Fairview, Lodi, Garfield, Irvington, Newark, Monroe, North Bergen, Weehawken, West New York, New Brunswick, Randolph, Passaic, Totowa, Byram, and Westfield.
Here are the North Jersey districts holding April elections along with the candidates vying for positions.
Candidates for Bergen County school board
CLIFFSIDE PARK
- Lisa Frato
- Daniel Murtagh
- Kleidon Ndreu (incumbent)
- Letizia Pantoliano (incumbent)
FAIRVIEW
- Diane Testa (incumbent)
- Francisco Martinez (incumbent)
- Angelo D’Arminio
GARFIELD
- Alea C. Sanchez – “Education Not Politics” (sitting member)
- Bogumila “Millie” Swietek – “Education, Not Politics”
- Aldo A. Munoz – “Education, Not Politics” (current officeholder)
- Arlene Patire – “Rescue Our Educational Institutions”
- William J. Oddo – “Protect Our Educational Institutions”
- Larrisa Ihsan – “Rescue Our Educational Institutions”
- Ismet Feratoski – “Commitment Responsibility Faithfulness”
- Abdelkader Sardena – “Learning, Society, Cohesion”
- Richard Derrig – “Seasoned Directed Leadership”
- Nancy Kutsup – “Focused Experience in Leadership”
LODI
- Michael Caruso – “Residents Opposing Bribery”
- Katie Lugo-Lisath – “Residents Opposing Bribery”
- Joao Mendes – “Citizens Against Corruption”
- Jocelyn Anderson – “Continue the Progress”
- Laura Cima – “Continue the Progress” (incumbent)
- John Cannizzaro – “Continue the Progress” (incumbent)
Passaic County
TOTOWA
- Joseph A. Parlegreco (incumbent)
- RoseMarie Carr (incumbent)
- Gary Bierach (incumbent)
CITY OF PASSAIC
- Patricia “Abril” Barrales-Garcia (incumbent)
- Marko Kopic
- Juan Arroyo
- Maryann Capursi (incumbent)
- Michael “Moshe” Gross
Morris County
RANDOLPH
- Allison Manfred (incumbent)
- Ron Conti (incumbent)
- Angela Luca-Fisher
- Wayne Alley Sr. (running alongside Howard Hessel)
- Wayne Alley Sr., competing alongside Howard Hessel,
The article initially appeared on NorthJersey.com.
The following North Jersey school districts will hold elections in April. Check out the candidates here.
