Voters
split on approval of budgets
Election results.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005 • By ANDREA EILENBERGER
• The Express-Times
Voters in both Warren and Hunterdon
counties turned in mixed results for their school budgets in
the ballots held Tuesday.
In Warren County, 16 of 23 school
district budgets were passed.
The seven that failed include Franklin
Township, Hope Township, Oxford Township, Warren Hills
Regional, Washington, Washington Township and White
Township.
Budgets for Hope, Oxford, and White
townships face a second year of defeat. Last year, Knowlton,
Lopatcong, and Great Meadows and North Warren Regional were
also defeated.
In Hunterdon County, voters defeated 16
of the 29 budgets.
The budgets that were defeated include
Bethlehem Township, Califon, Clinton Township, Delaware
Township, Delaware Valley Regional, Flemington-Raritan
Regional, Franklin Township, High Bridge, Holland Township,
Hunterdon Central Regional, Kingwood Township, Lebanon
Township, North-Hunterdon/Voorhees Regional, Readington
Township, Union Township and West Amwell
Township.
Last year, only seven budgets were
defeated. They include North Hunterdon/Voorhees Regional,
Alexandria, Franklin, Kingwood, and Readington townships, as
well as Frenchtown and Hampton.
Phillipsburg was the only district in
Warren County without an increase.
Califon's budget was defeated by a slim
three-vote margin: 109 votes against it and 106 votes for
it.
Clinton Township voters not only defeated
the budget, but the ballot question as well. The district
sought an additional $200,000 to fund the salaries and
benefits for three new teachers and one new school
counselor. It failed by 101 votes.
Voters in Clinton Borough approved the
budget but defeated the ballot question that would have
provided $25,000 for the purchase of a mobile computer lab
with 20 lap top computers. It was defeated by 15
votes.
Delaware Township voters approved a
ballot question asking for $463,550 to complete the final
phase of repairing and reroofing to the 1950 and 1970 wings
of the elementary school. It was passed by 174
votes.
Rita Foti, a write-in candidate of the
White Township school board, was defeated but took 19
percent of the votes. She said she was asked by residents to
run a write-in campaign.
"I am a retired school administrator, so
I understand the needs of schools. I'm also a retired
senior," Foti said.
Harmony Township residents Debra and Mark
Dockendorf homeschool their children but said they come out
mostly every year to vote in the district's
elections.
"I still think it is very important to
support the district," said Debra Dockendorf, who has been a
Harmony Township resident for 12 years. She is also a member
of the school's parent-teacher association.
Another White Township resident, Cynthia
Hausamann, said she supported the district's
budget.
"I have two children, one who will be
entering kindergarten soon, and I want what is best for
them," Hausamann said.
Belvidere resident and mother of four
children in the district Dawn Ciraky said she voted for the
3.78 percent budget increase this year because it is
important to her to sustain the school's
programs.
"The music and art programs can be the
first cuts if budgets are voted down, and I want my kids to
have them," Ciraky said.
The defeated budgets now go back to the
school boards for possible cuts that can be made. After
that, the defeated budgets will then go to municipal
governing bodies, which will reconcile the budgets and hold
public hearings.
Reporter Andrea Eilenberger can be reached at
908-475-8044 or by e-mail at aeilenberger@express-times.com.
© 2005 The Express-Times. Used with
permission.
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