Warren County voters reject school tax levies in 15 of 22 districts

With school taxes going up and staff positions and programs headed for the chopping block, voters rejected budgets across Warren County school districts, according to unofficial returns available late Tuesday night.

For the county's 22 school districts, proposed tax levies for the 2010-11 school year passed in seven school districts: Belvidere, the townships of Allamuchy, Blairstown, Frelinghuysen, Harmony and Knowlton, and North Warren Regional, according to unofficial results.

Budgets failed in 15 districts: Alpha, Hackettstown, Phillipsburg and Washington, the townships of Franklin, Greenwich, Hope, Lopatcong, Mansfield, Oxford, Pohatcong, Washington and White, and the Great Meadows and Warren Hills regional school districts, according to unofficial results.

In April 2009, 18 of 23 school tax levies passed. Since then, Hardwick Township School District was absorbed into the Blairstown Township School District.

Tuesday's election followed a tough budget cycle for school districts across New Jersey. State aid for more than 500 districts is set to drop in the coming school year by about $1 billion collectively. Warren County's public schools are slated to receive about $14.5 million, or 13 percent, less in combined school aid than they received for 2009-10.

The tense atmosphere in recent weeks turned into a wrestling match between the state's teachers union and Gov. Chris Christie, who has called on school employees to accept a wage freeze for one year.

Christie has said voters should reject budgets in school districts where teachers have failed to agree to the wage freeze.

Belvidere Superintendent Dirk Swaneveld said he was hoping budgets would pass overwhelmingly to send a message to Christie that he needs to soften his approach.

"It's pretty disturbing," said Swaneveld, referring to Christie's tone and attitude toward education. "It's hard to fight that. Small districts don't get the media coverage that the governor gets."

Mansfield Township actually saw a tax decrease in the budget and still voted down the Warren Hills Regional budget.

"It is what it is," said Warren Hills Regional Superintendent Peter Merluzzi. "We are where we are, and we'll have to make the best of a bad situation."

The Warren Hills budget calls for layoffs and reduced supplies. The district was also near an agreement with its teachers to take a wage freeze for the coming year, something administrators and support staff had already accepted.

"I think all the rhetoric, all the talk out there didn't help things," Merluzzi said. "It increased interest and that interest brought out 'no' votes around the state."

Tim Frederiks, superintendent of the Allamuchy and Great Meadows Regional school districts, held out hope late Tuesday results in both would come out favorably. None of the tallies were available yet as he sat in his Allamuchy office at 11:30 p.m.

"I think in both districts, and probably all districts, there's a heightened interest for various reasons," he said.

Both of his districts, he said, had put together "responsible budgets." In Great Meadows, there were 19 full-time positions being cut.

But while other districts lamented the negative attention paid to the school elections, Frederiks said he was pleased with the turnout he was seeing.

"I can never be disappointed when I see that the percentage of registered voters participating is higher than usual," he said.