(POLL) Council, School Board, Support Resolution Requiring Vote on Charter Schools

East Brunswick officials want the next town that gets a charter school to have a say in the matter.

That’s why the Township Council and the East Brunswick Board of Education approved resolutions last week supporting Assembly Bill 1877, which says that before a charter school is established, it must be approved by the voters at the annual school election.

For two township residents, the approval by the local governing bodies is a victory. Christine Rampolla and Deborah Cornavaca, both members of Save Our Schools New Jersey, have been petitioning the council and school board to support the Assembly proposal, which counts Assembly Patrick J. Diegnan Jr., and Assemblyman J. Barnes III (who represent East Brunswick) as co-sponsors.

“As a mother of two, I care very deeply about the public schools in our town,” said Rampolla in her address to the council and to the school board. “They are what led me back to my hometown of East Brunswick, when I became a parent, a little over three years ago.

“When I initially learned of the new charter school in town and researched the impact it would have on our existing public schools, I also searched for information on what my rights were as a local tax-payer and when I would have the ability to lend my voice to this decision making process.  I was extremely dismayed when I learned that as local property tax-payer contributing to the school budget, I would have zero say, nor would my elected representatives have any say, in how this portion of local tax dollars would be spent.”

Cornavaca said the bill is a step toward bringing autonomy “back” to local school districts.

“We need to push back and we need to be heard in Trenton,” Cornavaca said during a presentation to the school board on Thursday, March 1. “One such way that we can do that now is passing a resolution in support of A1877—a bill which would give local communities the right to approve a charter school intended to operate in or accept students from our community.”

Locally, the East Brunswick Board of Education has been challenging it’s own charter school, the , a Hebrew dual language school, which was approved by former Education Commissioner Bret Schundler and opened in September 2010.

According to School Business Administrator Bernardo Giuliana, the district was originally expected to pay $1.337 million to help fund Hatikvah 2012-11. However, that number was changed to $657,000. For 2012, the district budgeted $1.159 million, not including $115,000 for transportation costs. The district also had to pay $51,120 for several students to attend other charter schools. For the upcoming school year, the district has tentatively budgeted $1.747 million for an anticipated 153 students, according to Giuliana

Rampolla said the legislation makes sense not just for people who oppose charter schools, but for their supporters as well.

“This legislation should be supported by both charter school movement supporters and their opposition,” she said. “If charter schools are to succeed and provide the type of innovation they were originally intended for, they will need community buy-in.” 

2011 seeking to overturn Schundler’s decision to approve the school because it did not meet enrollment requirements at the time.

According to the December decision, the school board was urging the court “to revoke Hatikvah's charter and remand the matter to the commissioner to set a timetable for it to wind down its operations, or take other steps as a result of Hatikvah's purportedly deficient application.”