Voters Soon Will Have Say on Madison School Budget

The politicians, Board of Education and Superintendent have all had their time to talk.

Now comes the time for the residents to have their say on school budgets throughout a state that has been turned upside down ever since the middle of March.

Madison residents will get their chance to vote on Tuesday to both say yes or no to the submitted budget, and decide the fate of the position of visual and performing arts supervisor and the junior school's sports program in a second budget question.

Throughout town, signs urging residents to vote–and to vote yes–popped up in larger numbers over the weekend. Originally created from refurbished signs from the district's referendum vote, the 50 or so signs ran out quickly. So PTOs, and other residents, decided they needed to order new ones. That sentiment became stronger after Gov. Chris Christie's call for N.J. residents to vote down budgets that don't include wage freezes.

"When Gov. Christie decided to tell everyone vote no, we had to really act fast," Karin Szotak, who received a shipment of 300 "vote yes" signs on Friday.

Last week, Superintendent Dr. Richard Noonan also fought back against Christie's comments.

Though the BOE had already asked all Madison school bargaining groups to take a freeze, Noonan said "we don't have the legal authority to impose one." He also said Christie was, "thrusting students into the crossfire of his feud with the NJEA," by calling for defeated budgets.

Szotak said the district's PTOs, with the help of a donation from Playwrights Theatre, paid the $831 for the cost of the 300 signs. Szotak, who is the secretary of the Tory J. Sabatini PTO and a member of Madison Parents & Professionals of Exceptional Children (PPEC), helped divide the signs up into groups of about 30 for PTO members, teachers, and other residents to hand out.

"One of the main reasons our town is the great town that it is, is the education system we provide to our children," Szotak, who has three children in the school system, said. "The reason our property values are what they are is also due to the education our district provides our students. Every taxpayer in this town benefits from that in terms of property value."

Neighboring Chatham also had its own "Vote Yes" signs in the borough and township leading up to the vote.

If the budget does not pass, the Borough Council would then step in to make adjustments. There is also a second budget question which, if it gets yes votes from 60 percent of voters, would save the position of visual and performing arts supervisor and the junior school's sports program.

Noonan and board members have said the two were put on the second question for consideration because those programs affect such a large group of students and parents.

"It touches two very vocal and active groups," Board of Education Member George Martin said at a special budget presentation to parents at Madison Junior School.

Parents at that meeting expressed concerns over the possible loss of the position of supervisor of visual and performing arts, held by Stacy Snider.

"Stacy Snider is phenomenal," Szotak said. "It will hurt to lose Stacy Snider."

The Board of Education and Noonan said that if the second question does not pass Snider could still be kept at the district, though it would mean bumping another arts teacher.

The budget up for vote on Tuesday contains 16 district positions which will either be eliminated outright or have a reduction in hours. It came following the state's announcement that Madison would have it's aid cut by 100 percent (a loss of 1.6 million) and would also lose 15 percent of debt service aid the state promised in connection with the 2005 referendum project. The district had less than two weeks between the state's announcement and the BOE vote that sent the budget to the residents.

A little over a month later, the voters of Madison will have their say as to where the district will go next.

For information on where your polling location is, click here.