Let the excellence under Montclair’s appointed BOE continue (Letter to the Editor)
I would like to urge fellow Montclair residents to vote no on ballot question No. 3, regarding a change in how our school board is populated — that is, changed from an appointed school board to an elected school board.
I would like to point out an issue that I have not heard discussed, just barely mentioned. That is, if we change to an appointed school board, we will lose our Board of School Estimate, and the budget will be voted on by the taxpayers. A basic problem will be how long it will take for every request to be voted on by the citizens. How eager will those people who do not have children in school be to support school spending?
Families move to Montclair because they are aware of our exceptional magnet school system, devised under an appointed school board. Please allow this excellence to continue.
Janice Victor
Montclair
Editor's note: In New Jersey communities with Type II school systems, and school board elections held in November, districts are only required to put budgets before voters if they exceed a 2% cap on year-to-year tax levy growth.
Appointed or elected board? Live forum Oct. 21
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