The logic of having a school board in a community without schools has always escaped me. Think about it: A district might have 60 or 70 kids, which it ships to another district, paying tuition and transportation. It has little say on how much any of this costs, but it still has to put its budget before the voters. None of this makes any sense, but then, this is New Jersey where the number of taxing entities — state, county, municipal, school, fire, other — numbers more than 1,400.
So, the bill signed by Gov. Jon Corzine the other day eliminating what are called “non-operating school districts” seems like a no-brainer. Unless, of course, you are one of the districts involved.
The legislation clarifies a process that began two years ago, but still has detractors — like Rocky Hill Mayor Ed Zimmerman or Frank Chilson, school board secretary for Rocky Hill and Millstone, two local districts facing extinction:
“It seems it would be very difficult for a Millstone or Rocky Hill resident to be elected to the receiving districts’ schools based on population,” said Frank Chilson, secretary for both school boards.
An injunction was expected to be filed Wednesday on behalf of the Rocky Hill and Millstone school boards in an attempt to stop the shut down, he said. Among its objections, the injunction states that the community was not given the opportunity to vote on the issue, he said.
“It’s really taxation without representation,” Mr. Chilson said.
Borough Mayor Ed Zimmerman said he also is concerned about the disenfranchisement of Rocky Hill voters.
“The biggest issue here is we’ve got nine months of an appointed person over there and then we’ll never have a say in education again, or taxes,” he said.
It is a legitimate concern, though the reality is that the boards in those districts have always had little say. And they have few alternatives.
Rocky Hill is bounded on three sides by Montgomery, with whom it will merge, and Franklin to its north. Milltsone is bounded by Hillsborough, with whom it will merge, and Franklin. The choices would seem to be to merge with one of their neighbors or build a school of their own — which would be absurd.
The reality is that this must be the first step in a longer process of reducing the number of government entities in the state, a process that should slash the number of school districts significantly, as well as the number of municipal governments and eliminate fire districts completely.
There are going to be a lot of angry municipal and school officials as we move forward, but I believe that, in the end, we’ll see tax savings and for some an increase in services.
Hank Kalet 