Voorhees Mayor: An update on our schools
Mayor’s Message: Mike Mignogna
On Dec. 1, Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald, of Voorhees, introduced a bill allowing school districts the option of moving their school elections from April to November to coincide with the general election. The bill received final legislative approval on Jan. 9 and became law on Jan. 17.
More than 76 percent of school districts in New Jersey moved their elections to November prior to the Feb. 17 deadline. The move places board candidates on the November ballot, but eliminates the annual vote on proposed school budgets that do not exceed the state’s 2 percent tax-levy cap.
In our community, both the Voorhees Board of Education and the Eastern Camden County Regional School District Board of Education voted to move school elections to November.
Greenwald initiated the legislation because April school elections across the state cost as much as $9 million annually, but fewer than 15 percent of registered voters went to the polls. The law saves taxpayers money and (will) get more people involved in the selection of school board members.
Regarding the issue of charter schools in Voorhees — on Feb. 16, I attended a meeting in Trenton with state Senate President Steve Sweeney and Sen. Jim Beach in a continuing effort to get the approval of the Regis Academy Charter School in Cherry Hill overturned and advance legislation to give residents an opportunity to vote on whether a charter school can be open in their community.
Others at the meeting included Mayor Chuck Cahn, of Cherry Hill; Mayor Gary Passanante, of Somerdale; and representatives of the Voorhees and Cherry Hill school systems.
Both Sweeney and Beach agreed to fight for our cause.
