Chatham School Board Votes to Move Election to November

By a 6-2 vote, the Chatham School District decided Monday night it would join the majority of school districts in the state and reschedule its annual election to coincide with the November general election.

In doing so, the district will no longer enable residents to vote on the annual budget, per the state law, and the election cannot be moved back to April for four years, if the district chose to do so.

The two dissenters to the vote were Kim Cronin and board vice president Matthew Gilfillan, with Lata Kenney absent.

Chatham becomes the 522nd school district in New Jersey to move its vote out of a total of 537 school boards.

In a November vote, residents will have the ability to choose board members and approve or deny any referendums proposing school budget spending above and beyond the two-percent state-mandated tax cap. Keeping the election in April would have allowed residents to vote on a budget no matter the tax increase (inside the two-percent cap).

The change will take effect in November 2016.

What do you think? Did the Chatham School Board make the right decision?