Next Ridgewood Board Of Ed. Election Will Be In 2020, Judge Rules

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — There will be no Board of Education election in April, a Superior Court judge has ruled.

Bergen County Superior Court Judge Robert Wilson ruled Friday that there will only be a budget vote in April and not an election for any seats up for grabs on the Ridgewood Board of Education.

The next Board of Education election will be in April 2020.

Wilson's ruling came nearly a month after Superintendent Daniel Fishbein filed a legal complaint seeking clarification regarding when the next election for Board of Education seats would be.

Wilson ruled that the terms of a board of education trustee cannot be shortened.

Until 2012, school board elections in New Jersey were held in April. The village's Board of Education voted in 2013 to move the election to November. Moving an election to November takes away the public's ability to vote on a district's budget, which is where 67 percent of villagers' tax bills go.

The Village Council voted 3-2 in July to move school board elections back to April, a change that would have gone into effect this year.

Board members wanted the council's vote postponed until the fall when more parents would be back from summer vacation. (See related: Ridgewood Council Moves School Board Election Back To April)

"There is no urgency to get this done," trustee Sheila Brogan said at a council meeting when the vote was taken. "You are usurping the power of the Board of Education. Nobody wants to say no, just don't do it right now. Do it in September."

Deputy Mayor Susan Knudsen previously said that the public was interested in moving the school election back to April.

"We've gotten so many emails and only a handful said 'hold the conversation until November," Knudsen said. "People really want this election back to April."

Village Manager Heather Milander analyzed the voter turnouts from 2007 to 2017. It showed that an average of 21 percent of registered voters vote in April school elections. In November, during general elections, the average is 16 percent, Milander's analysis showed.

"In November, 0 percent of people are given the chance to vote," Knudsen previously said. "In April 100 percent of people have that option."

Hache argued that the decision to move the vote was not about the Village Council trying to meddle with the Board of Education.

"It's not about making people happy. It's about what is right; 67 percent of tax dollars is not a small decision," Hache said. "The right and privilege to vote and the choice to vote, they are not the same. What empowers voters more is whether they choose to exercise it or not."

A state-mandated moratorium on moving the vote back to April expired May 31 of 2018.

Anyone interested in running for a seat on the five-member board can click here for more information.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

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