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BRICK VOTERS GIVE SCHOOL DISTRICT SWEEPING ELECTION DAY VICTORY
Budget, Ballot Questions Passed; School Board Incumbents Rejected
By Eric San Juan and Catherine Snipe
On Tuesday, the voters of Brick Township had one word to say: Yes.
Voters not only approved the school district's 2007-2008 budget, they also approved an array of special questions on the ballot.
There were some "no" votes, however, specifically when it came to returning incumbents Sharon Kight and John Talty to the board of education. Both were defeated by comfortable margins by former board member Daniel Woska and challenger Virginia Reinhold.
Voters said yes to the $120 million by a wide margin, 5,944 votes to 3,762. About $80 million of that will be funded through local property taxes, putting in place a 6.26- cent increase on the local tax rate. That tax rate increase would add $93.9 to the annual tax bill of a home assessed at $100,000.
After rejecting three of the last five school budgets, voters were ready to say "yes," not only to the school district's main spending plan, but an array of special questions designed to help keep certain services/programs in place while also getting around the four percent budget cap.
Voters said yes to a special question asking for funding to continue "courtesy busing," of the busing of students who live less than two miles from school. The state does not mandate the busing of such students, hence "courtesy" busing. Approved spending on the non-mandated busing was about $300,000.
Voters also said yes to about $800,000 on extracurricular activities, including athletics and school clubs. Top on the potential cut list if the question was rejected, school officials said, were middle school sports and high school clubs.
Another $275,000 was approved for security enhancements in the school district. Those enhancements could include security cameras and ID technology.
Also approved was a one-time expenditure for roof repairs and security upgrades. At some $4.4 million, about $1.7 million of that coming from the state, plans call for roof repairs at both high schools, the Herbertsville annex, Veterans Memorial Middle School and Lake Riviera Middle School, as well as security upgrades throughout the district.
All ballot questions were approved by wide margins.
However, the approvals do not come for free. In total, the ballot questions would add 2.94 cents to the tax rate, or roughly $39.20 annually on a home assessed at $133,500, the township average. This is including increases stemming from the general school budget.
Voters were not so generous to incumbents Sharon Kight and John Talty, sending both home in favor of new board of education members.
Former member Daniel Woska and his running mate, Virginia Reinhold, won seats for three-year terms on the school board, and did so by strong margins. Woska won 4,776 votes, and Reinhold 4,481, both easily outpacing Talty's 4,188 and Kight's 3,416.
Woska served on the school board for 10 years but lost re-election last year. He was the top vote-getter in Tuesday's election. Reinhold, who previously ran for a seat on the board and lost, won the second seat up for grabs.
With nearly 10,000 voters casting ballots, Tuesday's turnout in Brick was among the highest in Ocean County.
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