TRENTON – Senator Shirley K. Turner, D-Mercer and a longtime promoter and sponsor of legislation which would move school district elections to coincide with the November general election, made the following statement following the Assembly’s passage of A-15:
“For years I’ve questioned the logic behind holding school elections in the middle of April. These elections have been historically marked by dismally low turnout and have placed an additional financial burden on our local communities.
“We are finally moving towards a more sensible elections calendar where we consolidate April school elections with the November general election. By moving the elections we will make them more democratic and make local school boards more accountable to the voters. We will also save money in a time where we are asking our schools to do more with less, allowing districts to apply those funds to critical programs.”
Assembly bill 15 is the companion bill to her measure, S-1861, which moves school elections from April to the November general election and eliminates ballot approval of school budgets for those budgets that stay under the spending growth cap.
The bill now awaits a hearing in the Senate Education Committee.