Flash Report: School Board Appoints New Leadership

At its annual post-election reorganization meeting this evening, Tuesday May 3^rd, the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education unanimously voted to install Evan Lerner as Board President and Pat Breslin as Vice President.

Lerner succeeds Jeffrey Brookner, last year’s Board President, while Breslin assumes Lerner’s former position as Vice-President.

Prior to that action, and as a result of last week’s public voting of April 27^th, Arvind Mathur, Ann Marie Meade and Evan Lerner were each sworn in to three-year terms on the Board.

B-R School Officials Set Date for First Budget Review

According to the text of a November 24^th e-mail from Superintendent Michael Schilder, the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education has decided to depart from its prior practice of presenting a complete preliminary school budget to the public.  

Instead, only an overview accompanied by “timelines and some projected figures” will be available at a December 21^st   public meeting.  In the memo released by Dr. Michael Schilder, one of the reasons is to “minimize confusion.”

The full contents of Dr. Shilder’s statement on behalf of the B-R Board of Education are excerpted below:  

[From the] Board of Education:

“A 2011-2012 Budget Overview will be presented at the Board meeting on December 21 which will include timelines and some projected figures.  A detailed line-item budget will not be presented since the Board would rather wait until more definitive information from the state, especially in regard to state aid, is available.  The goal is to not be premature in presenting too many early drafts of the budget.  We’re hoping this will minimize confusion by giving the public a clear understanding of what items and programs will be included and not included in the final budget.  At the January 25^th Board meeting, we hope to present a list of reductions, if reductions are needed.”

My commentary on this revised process will appear in a separate blog post.

Thanks for reading.  Stay engaged and keep safe during this hectic holiday season.

School Board to Approve Key Proposals

This evening, the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education will hold a special meeting beginning at 7:00 PM at the Wade Administration Building in Martinsville. It should be brief. There are only two agenda items and, although both are important, there may not be much, if any, controversy.

The board will decide on accepting the $1,037,000 budget reduction approved by the Bridgewater and Raritan municipal councils after last week’s post-midnight meeting at the Bridgewater Municipal Complex. The B-R BOE was in attendance that night and participated in the discussions.

The board can’t change the number, but can redirect where to make changes. There is no expectation that the board will appeal the amount of reductions.

The second agenda item is board approval of its ‘Race to the Top Application.’ In a related story which appeared in The Star-Ledger today, Commissioner of Education Bret Schundler, the New Jersey Legislature, and the New Jersey Education Association seem to be on the same page this time about The Garden State’s formal application to the U.S. Government for a $400 million grant of ‘Race to the Top’ school funding.

The last effort to submit this application under the Corzine administration for a grant of from $200 to $400 million was thwarted because the NJEA did not support it. This time around, with Governor Christie wanting to remove $820 million in school aid from the proposed budget, the NJEA has come to the table.

Photo by Dick Bergeron:  Dr. Michael Schilder takes notes at the Bridgewater-Raritan's reorganization meeting of April 27

A Somber Mood at the Wade Administration Building

At about 9:10 PM, when I walked into the conference room of the Wade Administration Building in Martinsville, election results were beginning to trickle in for the school budget and the four uncontested school board seats. They were being collected by School Business Administrator/Board Secretary, Peter Starrs, and projected via computer on a large screen.

All nine board members were present, as were the superintendent of schools and a handful of others. At about 9:33 PM, the mood became very quiet, yet still hopeful for a favorable budget outcome, since the yes votes trailed the no votes by only 160. Two other large voting locations were not yet in and might have changed the trend.

However, when all votes were counted, the difference held, and the final outcome was a school budget defeated by 171 votes. All four incumbents – running unopposed – retained their seats: Jill Gladstone, Lynne Hurley, Jeffrey Brookner, and Anda Cytroen.

What is remarkable about this election is the turnout of 9,825 voters, 66% greater than last year’s turnout of 5,923 which, according to Peter Starrs on his 2009 voting printout, was the “largest turnout since I have records, 1962.”

Not surprisingly, the outcome was a disappointment to the administration and to school board members. When asked if he had comments, Superintendent Michael Schilder responded with a simple “No.”

To the same question, Board President Jeffrey Brookner said that he was “still digesting the budget vote,” and “was disappointed in the outcome.”

Next Tuesday, the B-R BOE will have its annual re-organization meeting. It will face the responsibility of subsequently meeting with members of the Bridgewater Township Council and those of Raritan Borough to jointly discuss what to do about the defeated budget.

Voters Reject Bridgewater-Raritan School Budget

In what appears to be a record turnout of 9,825 total voters according to the release of preliminary numbers at the Wade Administration this evening, the Bridgewater-Raritan School Budget was defeated by a narrow margin of 171 votes. A total of 4,827 people voted yes, while 4,998 people cast a 'no' vote.

Bonjour, Bridgewater & Raritan

This is the day that we will find out how the teachers, secretaries and custodians voted on the proposal that the leadership of the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association placed before them on Monday.

The count is over: All the ballots are in, and the membership will get the results late this morning. Once the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education gets notified, the rest of us will find out how it turned out.

Don’t expect any huge surprise. The membership of the BREA is not totally insensitive to the mood of Bridgewater and Raritan these days. Nonetheless, people can only vote for what’s on the ballot in front of them, so don’t expect a wage freeze or partial salary give-back.

Should the membership have voted affirmatively, and I believe it has, what you will see is a $1.4 million give-back of fringe benefits including tuition reimbursements and contributions to health care costs. If the vote has been in the negative – unlikely – then may God help us all.

The Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education will meet today at 2:00 PM in the Wade Administration Building in Martinsville to reflect the BREA’s offer and to pass the final budget for the 2010/2011 school year.

Voilà!