Freehold Regional boss: Referendum flop means 'difficult' path; parents must lobby Trenton

On a day where 3 out of 4 local school bond referendums in Monmouth and Ocean counties received overwhelming voter approval, the largest spending plan—a $42 million request for the Freehold Regional High School District—went down to defeat.

Freehold Regional district officials say the impact will be “difficult,” with an expected adverse impact on class size, infrastructure repairs, extracurricular activities and even student transportation.

Freehold Regional Superintendent Charles Sampson said the defeat in Tuesday's voting puts the district on a “difficult path” forward and declared it a “lost … opportunity to enrich the school experience for our students without raising taxes.”

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While Freehold Regional district voters rejected a new spending plan, three other local districts—Red Bank, Rumson and Lavallette—were victorious in seeking more money Tuesday night.

In an email to residents Wednesday, Sampson stressed that the $42 million boost was needed at a time when state aid to the district is being cut dramatically, due to the impact of Senate Bill 2, or S2, which realigned aid to districts based on a new formula.

He asked parents and voters in the email to demand that Trenton cough up more aid for the district: “I urge you all to continue petitioning your local legislators, demanding they fight for the students of this district and rethink the structure of S2.”

Election preview:Last Freehold Regional High School vote flunked; new one is multiple choice, seeks $42M

Earlier:Freehold Regional High School District ballot measure will give voters multiple choices

Watch the video at the top of this story to learn more about what the district was asking voters to approve. And make sure you don't miss a thing by buying a digital subscription to APP.com and downloading our mobile app today.

Sampson’s note reminded residents that the high school district lost $3.8 million in state aid this year, is expected to lose another $6 million to $7 million next year, and eventually a total of $30 million in the next four years.

“Our cumulative loss in state aid will reach $120 million by the end of S2’s phase-in,” Sampson wrote. “We cannot raise taxes in a manner to close that gap. Our class sizes are already at 30 students for core courses. That number will have to rise to accommodate cuts. Critical infrastructure work will be delayed, our extracurricular structure will change, transportation for students will also be affected.”

The Freehold Regional ballot measure was split into three different questions, with Question 1 the largest amount at $20.1 million, requested to fund vestibule and security improvements, as well as some tennis courts, roof repairs and other upgrades.

It ended with 16,557 against and 15,759 in favor.

Question 2 sought approval for $11.7 million to fund new “flexible STEM” labs and some athletic field upgrades, while Question 3 related to $10.2 million for different items at each school, including a media center for Colts Neck High School and new artificial turf fields at Marlboro, Manalapan and Freehold Township high schools.

Question 2 went down to defeat 17,041 to 15,074, while Question 3 lost 17,235 to 14,576. But since Question 1 lost, the remaining two would have been defeated even if voters had approved them based on the way the referendum was structured.

Full story:Voters reject $42M Freehold Regional High School District referendum

The defeat came a year after a $39 million Freehold Regional referendum for school improvements also failed at the ballot box.

That 2018 ballot measure had a much smaller turnout because it took place in early October, not on the regular November election day. The vote was also a more overwhelming rejection, 4,300 to 3,411.

District officials took another chance this year, believing that if they broke up the total amount into three separate questions it would succeed.

They also posted a detailed webpage with exact spending amounts and specific projects and indicated that voters could seek to approve just the first question and reject the others if needed. There was also a two-and-a-half minute YouTube video explaining the projects.

Sampson’s email ended with a plea to residents to lobby state legislators to change the school funding formula:

“We will continue to do all we can to maintain the exceptionalism of this district, but we need your help too,” he wrote, even attaching a list of contact information for voters to make their feelings known in Trenton.

The Freehold Regional High School District comprises Freehold Township, Freehold Borough, Howell, Manalapan, Marlboro High and Colts Neck high schools. The district serves grades nine through 12 in those communities, as well as Farmingdale and Englishtown.

Red Bank voters approved $6.7 million in funding for middle and elementary school upgrades by a vote of 543 to 229, while those in Rumson overwhelmingly passed a $25.7 million spending plan, 914 to 550.

The lone Ocean County school referendum saw Lavallette residents give approval for $2.2 million worth of improvements at Lavallette Elementary School. That vote was 392 to 206.

In late September, two school funding referendums in Fair Haven and Colts Neck received mixed results. 

In Fair Haven, voters favored a $15.6 million capital improvement program that included $3.1 million in state aid. That final vote was 781 to 501.

In Colts Neck, however, voters knocked down a $25.4 million spending plan that would have included renovations to improve indoor air quality, replacement of HVAC and electrical systems and removal of asbestos flooring. The project funding would have included $13 million in state aid. It lost 827 to 694.

More:Fair Haven voters approve school bond measure, while Colts Neck is denied

Statewide results for school ballot measures Tuesday indicated more victories than defeats, according to Janet Bamford, manager of communications and publications for the New Jersey School Boards Association.

She said there were 19 school districts with 26 ballot proposals across New Jersey. Among those, voters approved 14 measures, and rejected 11. One was still too close to call.  

Ten of those referendums requested funding for new construction projects, with seven receiving approval. A total of $133.4 million in new school spending was approved by voters Tuesday, she said.

One exception were the eight ballot measures that sought approval from local voters to exceed the 2% state tax levy limit. Five of those referendums were defeated, with just three approved.

“There are many factors that fall into why a referendum may or may not be approved,” Bamford said. “They need to determine the need and explain it. Some depend on how well they explain It. There are factors that play into it.

The "election shows that the voters of New Jersey, when a need for educational support is explained, tend to approve it as has been the history in New Jersey,” she said, later adding that “it is also a lesson that every vote counts.”

Joe Strupp is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience who covers education and Monmouth County for APP.com and the Asbury Park Press. He is also the author of two books, including Killing Journalism on the state of the news media. Reach him at jstrupp@gannettnj.com and at 732-643-4277. Follow him on Twitter at @joestrupp