Schools

UPDATE: Bloomingdale Budget Defeated, Kinnelon, Butler Budgets Pass

Bloomingdale budget defeated by six votes, unofficially.

Bloomingdale's school budget was defeated by six votes while Kinnelon and Butler's passed, according to unofficial election results filed with Morris and Passaic Counties.

Voters decided the fate of school districts' adopted 2011 budgets throughout the state Wednesday.

Here are the results broken down per district:

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

KINNELON
Budget
Yes: 1,051
No: 794

Board Members (two three-year terms, one two-year term)
Marcy Pryor (two-year term): 1,090
Marianne DeAlessi (three-year term): 1,167
Denise Hatch (write-in, three-year term): 308 

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

BUTLER
Budget
Yes: 504
No: 290

Board Members (three three-year terms)
Cynthia Sokoloff: 497
Tracy Luciani: 533
Alfred Marion: 523

BLOOMINGDALE
Budget
Yes: 363
No: 369

Board Members 
Richard Dellaripa: 461
Michael Moeller: 111
Edward Ball Sr.: 22
Maryann Rickelmann: 22 

According to the New Jersey School Boards Association (NJSBA), 2,222 candidates ran statewide for 1,612 seats, 49 percent of whom were incumbents. In 2010, 2,055 candidates ran for 1,619 seats, with 60 percent being incumbents.

Incumbents ran in this year's election in Butler and Bloomingdale, but Kinnelon's school board will see some new faces with DeAlessi, Pryor and Hatch joining the board.

In the case of Bloomingdale's defeated budget, if official results show that it has been defeated, the borough's governing body would be able to examine the budget and make reductions as they see fit, according to the NJSBA. If the school board does not agree with the reductions made by the governing body, the district can file an appeal which then goes before the commissioner of education.

Bloomingdale Superintendent Fredda Rosenberg said Wednesday that while the budget was defeated, it is not yet definitive as the votes will need to be recounted and absentees considered.

"We will just do what we have to do," she said about if it turns out that the budget is, in fact, defeated.

Bloomingdale Board Member Rich Dellaripa, who was reelected to his seat, said, "While I am, of course, honored that the voters of Bloomingdale have granted me the privilege of continuing to serve them as a trustee on the board of education, the majority of my feelings are related to the disappointment that the budget, which the school district administration and the board of education worked diligently on, wound up failing. But, I find a little encouragement that the margin was much closer this year than last year's."

Dellaripa said that the amount of voters this year, 732, was a significant drop from last year's 1,007.

In Butler, Superintendent Mario Cardinale was pleased with the outcome of the election.

"It was very good news," he said.  "I was obviously very pleased with the results and I was very thankful for the community support, which certainly tells you that it's a community that's committed to its kids and itself."

Butler Board of Education President Matt Lee was thankful for the community's support as well.

"The board is extremely gratified at the results of  this year's budget vote," he said. "We had a number of board members and volunteers who worked long and hard to stress the importance of supporting the budget and making sure the citizens of Butler made it out to vote. These efforts, coupled with Mr. Cardinale's work spreading the news about the great things that are happening in our district, were so important to the passage of the budget."

Candidates who won seats on the board were also pleased.

"I am so thrilled the budget has passed," said Dr. Marcy Pryor, a new member to the Kinnelon Board of Education. "I want to thank everyone that had exercised their right to vote. A special thanks to the CEP team and Gadhavi's for getting the word out on so many levels- phone calls, signs, emails... everyone worked hard to keep the community informed and involved and the community responded so positively. I am looking forward to being on the Kinnelon BOE and working collaboratively with the team." 

Butler BOE Member Tracy Luciani said, "I would like to thank all those who helped pass the budget. It truly was a community effort and we have so  much to be proud of. I also would like to thank those who supported me in the election.  I am excited and looking forward to another three years on the Butler BOE."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here