Tenafly School’s Board of Education To Move Elections to November

THURSDAY JANUARY 26, 2012, 2:40 PM BY AMANDA BASKIND  STAFF WRITER

NORTHERN VALLEY SUBURBANITE

Tenafly Public Schools

Tenafly’s  Board of Education passed a resolution that moves the school board elections to November and that eliminates the public from voting on the district schools budget provided it is below the state-mandated cap.

The resolution states that as long as the budget is within the state-mandated cap, currently 2 percent, there will be no public vote on the district budget in November. Since elections for school board members will now take place in November, terms expiring this April will be extended until the end of the year.

The school board President Phyllis Perskie-Kesslen claims the reason for the decision is cost savings as well as getting a higher voter turnout on Election Day.  ”We’re hoping a larger portion of the voter population comes out and votes for board members,” noting that a “good” voter turnout is about 11 percent of registered voters.

Perskie-Kesslen said the board will still discuss the budget publicly and will maintain fiscal responsibility, even though it does not have to get voters’ approval if it remains under the state mandated cap. Read The full report on northjersey.com