Schools chief thanks parents for budget OK

BY PATRICIA A. MILLER
Staff Writer

BRICK TOWNSHIP - School officials were overjoyed when voters said yes to the school tax levy and four ballot questions. But the perpetual problem of school funding remains.

"The crucial thing going forward is that we really need to put pressure on state legislators to come up with a fair funding formula," said schools Superintendent Thomas L. Seidenberger.

Voters here passed the tax levy in the $130,335,191 budget, three special ballot questions and a $4.5 million bond referendum to replace the roofs on a number of district schools.

But voters rejected incumbents Sharon Kight and John Talty's bids for second terms. Former board member Daniel Woska was the top vote-getter, with 4,776 votes. Virginia V. Reinhold was second with 4,481 votes. Talty was third with 4,188 votes. Kight, who served as board president this year, was last with 3,416 votes, according to results from the Ocean County Clerk's Office.

The school tax rate will rise 9.2 cents for each $100 of assessed valuation, an increase that includes the tax levy and the three special questions. Voters approved the tax levy by a vote of 5,944 to 3,762.

School officials and Township Council members will not have to go through the time-consuming and "very draining" process of cutting a failed budget, Seidenberger said.

"The gratifying thing is we have a budget passed," he said. "We can move on and start to prepare for next year without spending the next two or three weeks worrying about where we are going to cut the budget."

Seidenberger said he was concerned about how voters would respond to so many questions on the ballot.

"The five questions were something we had never asked people to consider before," he said. "So that was always a concern."

Seidenberger credited the budget victories to parents with children in the school system.

"The voting was almost twice as many people who normally come out and vote," he said. "We certainly want to thank everybody who came out to vote."

The district's current middle school and high school athletic and extracurricular activities will continue, thanks to the voters' approval of the $800,000 ballot question. The vote on the first special question was 5,713 to 3,914.

Voters also approved an additional $275,000 for the expansion and enhancement of each school's safety, security and communications systems. The vote on the second special question was 5,674 to 3,694.

The district's existing nonhazardous K-12 courtesy busing will be maintained with the approval of the $300,000 third question. Roughly 3,000 more children would have been walking to school if the question had been defeated. The vote was 5,704 to 3,987.

The vote on the school roof referendum question was 6,215 to 3,240.

School officials have already hired the East Brunswick architectural firm of Fletcher Thompson for the roof project.

Brick Memorial High School and Lake Riviera will probably be first up for repairs, he said.

"Now we have to sit down with our bond counsel," he said. "The sooner we can get the bid specs out, the sooner we can get the repairs done."

Seidenberger said it wouldn't be proper to comment on the results of the school board election.

"I have a good track record with all board members," he said. "Democracy has spoken. My job as superintendent is to provide information to board members to make the best decisions they can. I'm here to work with everybody."