The Fear of Defeated School Budgets

There seems to be an almost visceral dread by school board members and superintendents that, should a budget be defeated, the walls of the school districts – like those of Biblical Jericho – will come tumbling down.

Let’s take a look at that assumption, what’s behind it, and what is most likely to occur should a school budget go down to defeat on April 20th.

First, school districts tend to be insular and specialized operating units. Their elections are always in April, out of the voting mainstream. The thinking behind this is that school districts are not political entities and, therefore, should not be lumped with other political contests taking place in November. The latter is a view with which not all voters agree.

The relegation of school board and budget elections to the spring of the year has resulted in turnouts that are lower than those of the general elections in the fall. This practice of isolating school board elections draws interest mainly from parents of school-age kids (generally more from moms) and from senior citizens, both of whom vote in higher numbers.

The voting outcome is often a skewed, non-representative community consensus. Years which have high-profile burning issues – as is this one – may neutralize that statistically non-inclusive aberration.

Second, no school board or superintendent wants voters to reject the budget, because this means township and/or borough officials get to review the numbers.

But why, as I have observed through informal discussions and by listening to comments of board members and superintendents, is that such a bad thing? Elected town and borough council members have extensive experience in putting budgets together. In this state-wide fiscal crisis, municipalities have had to face severe cost reductions – they know the lay of the land.

A huge concern of all school boards and superintendents is that council members “don’t understand” school administration and will take an ax to their budgets. That is an unfounded concern. Municipal officials are not eagerly poised on standby, waiting for a school budget’s failure simply to cut it some more.

However, they know that they have a legal mandate to review a failed budget and will do so should that happen. That’s the scary part for school administrators and board members. Believe me. They don’t want to go through that process.

The fact that a budget may be defeated on April 20th is not doomsday for school districts. Elected municipal officials are experienced people with a good sense of their communities. They are not heartless, even as they may push for a thorough, second scrubbing of the numbers with a different set of eyes.

Thanks for reading, and stay engaged.