The Independent wrote about the Aberdeen-Matawan School Board candidates today. To be clear, Mr Evangelista was filling Joey Warren's 2009-2012 position, but for personal reasons is leaving the board and no one has stepped up to fill the unexpired term. That is the vacancy The Independent is referring to. The three 2008-2011 positions -- those of Mr Kenny, Mr Ruprecht, and Ms Rubino -- have 2 new candidates (Mr Daniels and Mr Larchuk) and an incumbent (Mr Kenny), all running unopposed. I wrote about the candidates in this space back on March 11th and expressed my opinion about the 2011-12 MARSD school budget a few days ago.
By the way, I received my sample ballot yesterday. I was surprised to see the budget amount ($44.8 million) split to show the respective amounts owed by the Township ($30.3 million) vs the Borough ($14.5 million). Is that a new thing? I don't recall it being that way in the past, but my memory isn't what it used to be. At least not that I can recall. I imagine that some portion of Township residents will vote against the budget simply because they are paying over 2/3rds of the schools bill. I understand that the bill is apportioned based on relative property assessments. Keep in mind that Aberdeen represented 2/3rds of the district's population in the previous census, so the breakout is reasonable.
I was quite annoyed to see the State of NJ adding its two cents to our local ballot, suggesting in bureaucratic language that our district is spending too much money on our kids and savvy residents should ask questions. It's like a warning label on a pack of cigarettes: "Your school district has proposed programs and services in addition to the core curriculum content standards adopted by the State Board of Education." Coming from the Christie Administration, this is no innocent statement. It is a repugnant intrusion in local politics.
You can find some of our local sample ballots below. For a full list, check the Monmouth County Clerk's website (see Duties of the County Clerk, then select Sample Ballots):
Be sure to vote next week Tuesday.
What is interesting is that, as a teacher (not in Aberdeen) I received a post card from MRTA, calling on me as a NJEA member to support them and the budget.
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