School budget fails in Millstone
Residents re-elect Foley and Dreifus, but reject incumbent Kinsey
BY JANE MEGGITT and JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writers

MILLSTONE - Voters resoundingly defeated the proposed school budget during the April 18 Board of Education election.

In a vote of 567 to 355, township residents turned down the $28.7 spending plan, which relied on a $22.5 million tax levy. The proposed levy would have increased the tax rate by 8 cents for every $100 of assessed value.

During the election, voters re-elected incumbents Tom Foley, with 470 votes, and Laura Dreifus, with 411 votes. Newcomer Sergio Galindo earned 410 votes and bested incumbent Paula Kinsey, who received 348 votes. Newcomers Janice Weiss and Deborah Novellino, who did not win seats, had 328 and 314 votes cast for them, respectively.

The three candidates who won election will serve a three-year term.

Board of Education President Kathy Winecoff said she was disappointed that the taxpayers in the township have such apathy because only 900 voters of the 6,500 who are registered cast ballots during the election.

"As can be expected, I am disappointed that the budget failed," Winecoff said.

Winecoff said the board and administration worked very hard to come up with a reasonable increase for this year.

"Especially as next year will be a challenge with the opening of the new school," Winecoff said.

The Millstone Township School District has a building project under way; it is constructing a new middle school off Waters Lane and Baird Road. The new school, which is 40 percent complete, is expected to open sometime in 2007.

Winecoff said she believes the climate in New Jersey, as far as taxes are concerned, is "extremely negative." She said the only way voters can express their negative attitude toward increasing taxes is by voting to defeat the school budget.

"How ironic," Winecoff said, "that the only budget, besides the fire budget, that gets voted on is the one that most affects our future, the education of our students who will one day be the ones we look to for leadership, medical care, teachers and more."

The board will have to review its budget and see which programs and extracurricular activities the district could do without. Then it must take its recommendations to the Township Committee, which will have the final say on what to do with the spending plan.

Board officials may have to make some difficult choices about class sizes and approach the Township Committee to review and discuss what can be done with budget, according to Winecoff.

Mayor Nancy Grbelja said the school board will have to bring its proposed budget in front of the Township Committee. As of April 19, she said she

was not sure if or when the two governing bodies would schedule a special meeting regarding the matter.

"I'm discouraged by the fact that so many people came out to vote to defeat the budget," Grbelja said. "There is a clear margin of residents who are not happy with the proposed budget."

Grbelja said that more than 900 people voted in the recent election, and that many voters usually do not turn out for school board elections.

"We have to take into consideration what the residents mandated and do what we can by law and do what we have to do," Grbelja said.

This is the second year in a row that the voters turned down the proposed school budget.

Superintendent of Schools William Setaro said he was "dissatisfied," though not surprised, that voters turned down the budget.

"Thirty-three out of 52 school districts failed in our county," Setaro said. "People can't afford property taxes, and again our schools took a hit."

Setaro said school districts have very few ways of raising money.

"Our state aid stays flat, and the only revenue increase we have to rely on is an increased tax levy," Setaro said.

"As a taxpayer," he said, "I sympathize, but I also have to run schools."

On April 19, Setaro publicly announced that he will resign from his post as superintendent to take on the same role in neighboring Freehold Township.

Last week, Winecoff also announced she will step down from her position as president of the Board of Education.

"After one year as vice president and the last three [years] as president," she said, "it is time for someone else to take over and build on the foundation that has been laid to move this board to the next level."

Winecoff said she believes the board has accomplished a lot over the past few years.

"Now it's time for the foundation to be expanded," she said.

Foley said he was humbled by residents' response to his candidacy for the board.

"The overwhelming support of my candidacy," Foley said, "reinforces [that] the majority of the community valued my previous nine years on the Board of Education and wants me to continue my focused efforts for another three years. Thank you, Millstone Township."

Foley said his positions on issues this year had a large majority of the board supporting Board of Education leadership actions to remove him from committees, isolate him from board information and attempt to reduce his participation as a board member.

He said board leaders wrote a letter to the editor to distance themselves from him and his positions.

"The vote and outcome of the elections indicate it was the Board of Education that didn't understand the majority position of the community they serve," Foley said.

"It would have been easy for the public to label me as a noisemaker and vote in a more compatible member," he said, "but instead they understood my intent, agreed with my positions [and] hence, reaffirmed their support."

Foley said he hopes the board listens to the election message and decides to start fresh by meeting him at the center of the table to work together on education issues.

He quoted Jim Casey, founder of the United Parcel Service (UPS), saying, "Determined people working together can do anything."

On being defeated in her bid for another term on the school board, Kinsey said, "I was disappointed with the election results and the very poor voter turnout."

Kinsey said that throughout her years serving on the board, she "voluntarily took advantage of all the tools that were offered to become an educated and certified board member and worked diligently to help improve the schools.

"I will continue to play an active role within the district, and I urge more residents to do so, too," Kinsey said. "An active involved community is critical to the long-term success of our schools."

Galindo congratulated "all the talent that has been elected back onto the board.

"I only hope that I can live up to their standards," he said.

Galindo said his family contributed to his winning a seat on the board.

"With four young children," Galindo said, "I was able to meet many people at softball, T-ball, baseball, karate, Mad Science [and] swimming who had similar concerns."

Now that he has won the election, Galindo said he will focus on "our concerns around our children and preparing them for the future."

Galindo said the board will also have to focus on the recently defeated school budget.

"I hope to bring out all the details of what we are asking to be funded," he said, "and why it is important to each of us in the community."