Judge Rules Against Voters Deciding on Cape May Leaving Lower Cape May Regional School District

VILLAS- Following a decision from Superior Court Judge Julio Mendez Oct. 24, a non-binding referendum question asking voters whether Cape May should be permitted to leave or bring about dissolution of the Lower Cape May Regional School District will be removed from the Nov. 5 ballot.
The referendum question will be covered with tape on voting machines and signs will be posted at polling places indicating the ballot question has been removed.
On July 11, the Lower Cape May Regional Board of Education delivered a request for non-binding referendum to the County Clerk and county Board of Elections.
Cape May’s special counsel Vito Gagliardi Jr. filed suit Oct. 15 seeking an order from a Superior Court judge to require Cape May County Clerk Rita Fulginiti to remove the regional school board question from the Nov. 5 ballot and re-issue ballots in Lower Township, West Cape May and Cape May, the three constituents of the regional school district.
“I find it hard to believe any governing body would file suit to keep its own voters from weighing in on an issue this important especially when it’s non-binding,” said Lower Township Solicitor Charles Sandman.
Ballots will not be reissued. More than 400 mail-in ballots have been received by the county.
Sandman said Mendez’s decision was based on two questions contained inside one ballot question: should Cape May be permitted to leave the district or should the school district be dissolved which the judge said may have been confusing to voters.
Lower Township Mayor Michael Beck said he was disappointed with the judge’s decision.
“We don’t fault the judge, we fault Cape May City, their council, not the people of Cape May,” he said. “One would think that it would be important for that referendum to go through so that their residents would have a chance to let them know whether they favor withdrawing from the school district or not because we’re going to spend an awful lot of money now that this court case has been resolved.”
“I think our school board put the referendum on there because they felt a lot of people in Cape May really were against what was happening there,” continued Beck. “It’s just a shame because they had an opportunity to see what their voters really felt about this and maybe it would have given them a way to get out of this gracefully but now it’s not going to happen.”
Sandman said no municipality has won a case allowing them to withdraw from a regional school district. Two months ago, the Appellate Division of Superior Court of New Jersey ruled against Seaside Park withdrawing from the Central Regional School District.
Sandman said Cape May’s litigation cannot be won; could cost Cape May $1 million in legal bills and spend up to 10 years in the court system.
“Do you really want to undermine the school funding?” he asked. “This is the school system that educates the next generation of people that occupy every area of life in this area,” said Sandman.
Beck said both Cape May and Lower Township would be forced to spend a lot of money that could be used for more worthwhile projects.
“We’ll be there all the way to fight them on this issue, they’re not going to succeed and we’ll do whatever it takes,” said Beck.
“We’re going to make sure we preserve that school system as it exists now.”