ROBERTS & WOLFE: KEANSBURG PRIME EXAMPLE OF NEED
TO MOVE SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS TO NOVEMBER

(TRENTON) - Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr. and Assemblyman David Wolfe  today said the firestorm surrounding the contract of Keansburg's outgoing school superintendent is a prime example of why board of education elections should be moved to November, when voters are most engaged and can hold board members accountable for their actions.

Under a contract negotiated in 2003 with the Keansburg Board of Education, retiring superintendent Barbara Trzeszkowski will be paid a $556,290 bonus on top of $184,586 for more than 250 unused sick and vacation days. She also is eligible for a $115,600 annual pension.

In Keansburg, this April's school election drew only 305 voters, 5 percent of the town's approximately 5,700 registered voters. Board Vice-President Kimberly Kelaher-Moran - who was on the board when Trzeszkowski's contract was approved - was reelected with only 221 votes.

 "Keansburg's school board has been emboldened by a insular system that has all but granted them total immunity from public backlash," said Roberts (D-Camden). "This episode proves that we can no longer afford a school election system that fails to provide any sense of accountability."

Under bipartisan legislation (A-15) championed by Roberts and Wolfe - and which the Assembly passed Monday - the current April school elections would be scrapped with board of education candidates running for office on a new, nonpartisan section of the November General Election ballot.

The lawmakers noted that statewide voter turnout for the April balloting seldom exceeds 15 percent.

"If New Jersey needed yet another example of why we need to hold real school board elections in November when the majority of voters are engaged, Keansburg is it," said Wolfe (R-Ocean). "School board members need to know that voters will hold them accountable for their decisions."

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