State court says Liberty Township cannot withdraw from Great Meadows school district

Liberty Township cannot withdraw from the Great Meadows Regional School District, a panel of state judges said Wednesday.

The New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, upheld previous decisions by the state commissioner of education and a state Department of Education Board of Review knocking down a petition by the township to form its own kindergarten-through-eighth-grade district.

The board of review in April 2007 correctly "found not only that the dissolution would cause Liberty to incur an excessive debt burden, but that the remaining school districts could not maintain efficient school systems without excessive costs," the three-judge appellate panel wrote in its 28-page decision.

It was not immediately clear if Liberty would try to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court, or whether the township would pursue an alternative proposal to establish its own kindergarten-through-fifth-grade district.

"I'm not prepared to say what we'll be discussing with the mayor and council, nor am I going to pre-empt their decision," said Liberty Township Attorney Vito Gagliardi, who argued on behalf of the township.

Gagliardi said he would make recommendations on further action to the township committee in the coming weeks.

In Independence Township, the other Great Meadows Regional municipality, Mayor Bob Giordano said he hopes this is the end of the issue.

"I hope they don't pursue it further ... because it's only going to cost both towns more," Giordano said.

Efforts to reach officials representing Liberty and the school district for comment Wednesday afternoon were unsuccessful.

Formed in 1993, Great Meadows has three schools: Liberty Elementary, Independence Township Central School and Great Meadows Regional Middle School. Both townships send students to Hackettstown High School for grades nine through 12.

Liberty Township sought to break from Independence Township in 2004 after a contentious budget season. Liberty residents continue to pay a higher tax rate than their Independence neighbors because Independence has a larger tax base.

Liberty filed a petition to withdraw from the district in February 2007. Two months later, a state Department of Education Board of Review ruled the change would be too costly for both townships and would duplicate administrative positions.

The appellate panel said in its Wednesday decision that it agreed with the board of review's assertion that some education programs would have to be eliminated due to lack of space or students.

A 2007 referendum to restructure the district's taxes failed. Liberty voters were overwhelmingly in favor of the restructuring, with Independence overwhelmingly opposed.

Gagliardi said Liberty's inability to get out of a regional agreement does not help a state initiative to get more districts to combine.

However, some good has come out of the fight so far, he said. A new state funding formula has lessened the disparity in state aid between the two townships, though officials do not know how long the formula will stay in place.

"The landscape has changed since this fight began, in part, because of that fight," Gagliardi said.

---

Reporter Stephen J. Novak can be reached at 610-258-7171, ext. 3569, or by e-mail at snovak@express-times.com.