Residents of Middle and Dennis townships went to the polls Tuesday to select, among others, three members for their boards of education.
Their choices came in the aftermath of resoundingly defeated referendum measures in the two townships, measures through which the school districts asked residents for additional funding.
Four school board incumbents, two in each township, chose to run for reelection; three of the four had supported their district’s referendum request for additional funds.
With the final vote tally still to be determined in both townships, the two incumbents in Middle, one of whom opposed the funding request, are locked in a tight battle for the final open seat, both trailing two newcomers. In Dennis, where the incumbents supported the added funds, one is leading the field, while the other is in last place. Five candidates were on the ballot.
Middle Township
The unofficial vote in Middle Township is extremely close. Two challengers lead in the voting, with Samuel Caraballo Jr. at 2,803 votes and Krista Ostrander with 2,694, in a field of seven.
The contest for the third seat on the board is a dead heat between two incumbents, with Kathleen Orlando leading Stephanie Thomas by two votes, 2,655 to 2,653. Slightly off that pace but still close is newcomer Lindsey Tyler DeLollis with 2,612 votes.
Orlando and Thomas are neck-and-neck even though they took opposing positions on the referendum measure, with Thomas, the current board president, voting to put forth the referendum when the board voted and Orlando voting no. When DeLollis was asked about it after the measure’s defeat, she said, “Our needs have not vanished.”
The two remaining candidates are further back, with Lauren Keating Wear with 2,547 votes and Linda George with 1,404.
The results can still change. Mail-in votes, for example, will be accepted until Nov. 11 if they were postmarked by Election Day.
If the current vote order holds, it would be the second year in a row voters declined to reelect the sitting board president. Dennis Roberts lost his bid for reelection in 2023.
The defeat of the referendum measure means the school board cannot have a $25.6 million bond issue. Residents were asked to allow the bond issue to create new pre-K classrooms at Elementary School 1 while relocating second graders to renovated space in Elementary School 2. Funds were also to be directed to upgrade unit ventilators in two schools and make improvements to district athletic facilities, including installing synthetic turf at Memorial Field. A full two-thirds of those who voted said no.
Two pressing issues will confront the new school board. The board must decide which of the projects included under the failed referendum measure must still move forward, and with what funds. The board must also hire a replacement for Superintendent David Salvo, who plans to retire at the end of the school year.
Dennis Township
According to the unofficial vote results, Tami Kern, one of the two incumbents in the race, was leading the field with 1,340 votes. Newcomers Steven Gurdgiel and Blaine Paynter followed close behind with 1,330 and 1,304 votes, respectively. Newcomer John Costanzo garnered 1,168 votes, and the other incumbent, Mariam Khan, was in last with 872 votes.
Unless a significant number of votes are still to be counted from provisional, mail-in and other sources, the results appear set. Costanzo needs 136 votes, or 12% of his total to date, to challenge Paynter.
Gaining election to the Dennis school board means grappling with serious financial issues. Class size across the township’s two schools is already higher than desirable; programs, both academic and extracurricular, face serious problems, and even transportation issues loom.
This was all known to the voters when 81% of them said no the school district referendum question seeking an extra $2.2 million in taxpayer support. In 2023 Dennis voters rejected a $1.3 million referendum proposal by 57% of the vote.
Adding to the problems awaiting the new school board is the fact that the 2024-2025 budget adopted by the current board explicitly stated that it is not able to meet its constitutional obligation to provide a “thorough and efficient” education for its students.
There are several possible consequences to the board’s situation. The failure of the board to meet its constitutional obligations can open the door for the state commissioner of education to develop remedial measures outside of and separate from board deliberations.
There is also new legislation signed by Gov. Phil Murphy that allows school districts experiencing cuts in state aid to request increases in their adjusted property tax levies above the 2 percent cap established under current law. This can be requested without a referendum.
How the Dennis school board is going to deal with its financial dilemmas and its constitutional obligation will be among the main challenges facing the new board.
Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
