Schools

Voters Approve East Windsor Regional and Cranbury School Budgets

In preliminary results, Abel beats Weisman in East Windsor, but incumbents otherwise prevail.

The East Windsor Regional and Cranbury school districts’ budgets both earned voter approval Wednesday night, according to unofficial results. They will be made official once certified by their respective county clerks.

 East Windsor Regional

Board of Education President and 9-year board member Alice Weisman (579 votes) lost her reelection bid to newcomer Lisa Abel (773 votes), according to numbers sent by the school district. Neither woman could immediately be reached for comment. In Hightstown, unchallenged incumbents Suzann Fallon (243) and Susan Lloyd (233) both retained their seats.

Find out what's happening in East Windsorwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The budget passed by a vote of 1,119-929. It received voter approval in eight of the nine individual districts, narrowly failing 147-149 in district 9, which covers East Windsor municipal districts 2 and 6 and where voting was held at the East Windsor Police Athletic League office.

The win ushers in an  for the 2011-2012 school year that calls for the cutting of six teachers, two classroom assistants and three other positions within the district. In East Windsor, the tax rate will rise five cents per $100 of assessed home value, or $132 for the owner of an average home valued at $264,000. In Hightstown, taxes will remain essentially flat, dropping 0.006 cents per $100 of assessed home value, or approximately $15 less per $100,000 of assessed value.

Find out what's happening in East Windsorwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"It is a lot of hard work to create a school budget, particularly in these difficult economic times," said Superintendent Ed Forshoffer. "I deeply appreciate the confidence that the majority of voters have put into our Board of Education and my administration for running an efficient school system. Thank you to everyone that contributed to this positive outcome!"

Cranbury

In Cranbury, incumbents Jennifer K. Cooke (367), Kevin G. Fox (328) and Evelyn Spann (317) beat out newcomer Pramod N. Chivate (292) for the three open, three-year terms on the Board of Education, according to unofficial results provided by Cranbury Township.

The passed by a vote of 333-180. That money is part of a total operating budget of $17.7 million, and will now lead to a tax rate increase of 3.9 cents per $100 of assessed home value. For the owner of a home valued at the township average of $608,331, taxes will rise $236, for an annual school tax bill of $5,967.

"I am very thankful for the support I received from the Cranbury community and want to congratulate the re-elected board members. I will continue to look for opportunities to serve the community, especially the Cranbury School," Chivate said.

Spann said, “It’s always a pleasure to serve the Cranbury community."

Cooke thanked everyone who voted for her and for the budget. “I’m glad I’m able to continue some of the jobs that I’m started—I’m involved in the [Chief School Administrator] search, and I’m happy to be able to see that through."

 “I think that we are really careful with the money that we have, and I think that everybody realizes that and I think that’s why our budget passed,” she added. “People believe in the job this school does for our kids and believe in the programs we have.”

Business Administrator Joyce Picariello said the administration was also pleased with the budget's passage.

"The Cranbury Township board and the administration are thankful for the constant support for the Cranbury School from the Cranbury Community; the passage of the budget is just one example among many," she said.

"The support of the community is what makes Cranbury such a special and desirable place to live, where students are able and encouraged to reach their full potential. We also thank all the candidates for their participation and desire to be a part of the education process and congratulate Jennifer, Kevin, and Evelyn on their reelection."

In Cranbury, 526 voters turned out, just under 20 percent of those eligible.

Chivate and Fox did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

This article was updated at Friday evening to include comments from Chivate and Picariello.


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