Voters in all four municipalities in the Shore Regional school district made it astoundingly clear in yesterday’s special election they do not approve their Board of Education’s plan to spend $51 million to make improvements or additions to their aging Shore Regional High School.
The vote defeating the bond issue, decided by a 4 to1 margin in every town, was defeated in every single voting district in each of the four towns.
With only 5321 ballots cast among the 43,939 registered voters in the school district, the returns made it also very clear that school board elections in March do not reach the majority of voters to make decisions that impact education and taxes for decades.
The unofficial vote against the $51 million Dollar bond issue was 2116 to 493, an approximate 4 to 1 margin. Final official results may not be available for another week, giving time for any mailed in ballots to be received.
School Superintendent Lisa J. English issued a statement that indicated the board would seek community feedback before discussing how to proceed with plans for addressing what she termed the school district’s needs for making the renovations.
Seeking the community’s input before deciding on holding yesterday’s election could have saved thousands of dollars in election costs in each of the boroughs. Settling the issue of whether Sea Bright will continue to be a member of the Shore Regional District and continue to pay the lion’s share of the grant could also have saved the district thousands of dollars.
The Board of Education did not put the $51 million grant request question up for a vote last November, which would not have cost the district anything. Instead, it chose to put it at a special school board election, with little advance notice or explanation. Special elections during winter months when many residents are out of state traditionally draw considerably fewer voters and cost thousands of dollars for each municipality in the district.
Last week, Sea Bright’s legal action in an attempt to halt the election until it could be determined which municipalities in the school district would be paying for the bond issue if approved, was denied. However, in making the decision, citing arguments by the Monmouth County Board of Elections the work that had already been done to have the election proceed, Superior Court Judge Owen McCarthy also ruled that even if approved, no action could be taken on the funds until the question of Sea Bright’s situation with Shore Regional was resolved.
Shore Regional
