Voters overwhelmingly rejected referendum measures from the Dennis Township and Middle Township school districts in special elections Tuesday, Sept. 17. Unofficial results show 81% of those casting ballots in Dennis said no to the school board proposal, while in Middle 67% rejected the school district’s bond proposal.
In Dennis, where school officials argued that state budget cuts over the last seven years have left the cupboard bare, the proposal to the voters asked for an increase of $2.2 million in the school property tax levy. This would then become a permanent part of the levy base going forward.
The officials said the goal was to bring the school district back to a level of support that would allow it to meet its state constitutional obligation to provide a thorough and efficient education for the township’s students.
The increase in funds would have been used to add one teacher in each grade level, K-8, to reduce class size. The district says it would also have used funds for basic skills support following pandemic learning loss, replacement of technology, continuance of transportation services and support for co-curricular activities. Other proposed uses of the funds included a security guard at each school as opposed to one for the two schools, and support for building maintenance.
In Middle Township, residents were asked to allow the district to bond for $26.5 million 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.
In both school districts, some residents had expressed concern about using taxpayer funds to hold a special election, seeing it as a way for the districts to face a smaller voter turnout that they hoped would result in approval of the proposals. The school districts could have waited seven weeks and placed their referendum questions on the General Election ballot at no added cost to township taxpayers.
In March 2022 the Lower Township Elementary School District held a special election seeking approval for a bond referendum measure; just 7% of total eligible voters cast ballots. Earlier that year, in January, the Lower Cape May Regional School District also held a special election over a bond referendum measure. The turnout was 9% of eligible voters.
If gaining a small turnout was ever a factor in the decision to hold special elections this year, it failed. Turnout in Dennis was 44% of registered voters across eight township voting districts. The 81% of the votes against the school board’s proposal showed a broad consensus on the issue.
In Middle, where special elections often result in a less than 10% turnout, 22% of eligible voters cast ballots, with two of every three saying no to the proposal.
The election results will not be official until Oct. 1, according to County Clerk Rita Rothberg. Rothberg said there will still be “timely mailed ballots” that need to be counted. But she added: “There are not enough issued ballots to affect the outcome of the race” in either township.
Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
