It was a tough night for New Jersey school districts after voters rejected most of the ballot initiatives in Tuesday’s special school referendum elections.
Voters in fourteen school districts and seventeen municipalities went to the polls to approve school construction and improvement projects, school district mergers, and additional spending authorizations. Voter approval is required for local school boards to qualify for debt service aid of up to 40% annually.
Bay Head voters approved a $3 million bond initiative for elementary school improvements, 177-35; the state will pick up about $1.2 million.
Voters in Collingswood rejected a $44.5 million bond to build a new school addition and upgrade other schools, 1,105-2,577. The project was eligible to receive $4.7 million from the state if voters said yes.
In Dennis, voters turned down a plan to spend an additional $2.2 million for the general fund after the state’s school funding formula had been reduced by over $4.2 million over the last six years by a vote of 432-1,853.
Greenwich Township and Stow Creek voted to create a shared PK-8 regional school district, 400-34. In Greenwich, the vote was 152-11; Stow Creek approved the measure, 248-23.
Hillsdale voters approved a $55.3 million bond to upgrade the George G. White Middle School, which would include $17.7 million in state aid, by a 293-200 vote. A second question, authorizing an additional $7 million to build two science labs and other improvements, passed 256-173. Voter turnout is roughly 5.8%.
An $87.1 million ballot initiative seeking to fund Hopewell Valley Regional school renovations in Hopewell Township, Hopewell Borough, and Pennington, was rejected, 1. The proposal, which would have received $23.9 million in state funding, was defeated in all three municipalities.
In Little Silver, voters rejected spending an additional $223,000 in general funds to pay for police security in the district’s public schools by a vote of 572-721.
Voters in Middle Township said no to a $26.6 million bond proposal for middle and high school upgrades, 1,169-2,259. The state would have paid $3.5 million of it.
In Northfield, voters approved an $8.6 million bond issue, some of it to make the Northfield Community School compliant with the American Disabilities Act, 468-160. The project qualifies for $3.44 million in state funds.
Randolph voters approved a $41.4 million school improvement bond issue that includes $15,6 million in state funding by a vote of 1,661-1,495.
Voters in Scotch Plains and Fanwood rejected granted the school board permission to acquire “by purchase, gift, or condemnation” property in Fanwood connected to an $81.4 million renovation and improvement plan; the state would fund $4 million of the expenditure by a vote of 3,220-3,520.
The Stafford Board of Education received voter approval, 2,193-1,500, for a $75.7 million school improvement project, which would include $15.9 million in state funding.
The vote in Tenafly is too close to call, with 1,116 yes votes and 1,127 no votes on a proposed $76.1 million construction and renovation project at four elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school. If it passes, the state will fund $19.4 million of it.