Funds must be spent only on that which voters approve

As we approach the end of the calendar year, the Board of Education begins the process of developing the 2007-08 school budget - not an easy task considering the many needs of the district and the desires of the taxpayers.

Many people have commented that the board had the money to install a new synthetic turf field but couldn't fund courtesy busing that was cut for students in grades 6-12. Some parents have asked, "Who decided to spend all that money to redo the football field and yet take away buses to get children to school?" The answer to both questions is Sayreville voters.

The funding of courtesy busing was put on a ballot question, and the majority of voters said no. The new synthetic all-purpose field was also a ballot question as part of the high-school referendum and the voters said yes.

Since we live in a democracy, we must abide by the wishes of the majority of the voters. The referendum was approved in 2005 by 410 votes (1,952-1,542); therefore, the field was built. The state provided approximately $400,000 toward the field, and the board contributed approximately $700,000.

Once a referendum is approved, the funds must be spent on what the voters approved and cannot be redirected to fund busing or anything else. On the other hand, because the busing question was defeated by the voters, we were bound by state statute not to fund courtesy busing. It is really pretty simple, although I can understand and sympathize with those, including my own 10th-grade daughter, who lost courtesy busing.

Serving as president of the Board of Education is truly an honor and a responsibility I do not take lightly. I have met a great number of residents I would not have otherwise met. Most have been very supportive and now have a better understanding of the numerous federal and state under-funded mandates requiring compliance. They are also aware of the number of curricular and extracurricular programs that must, as a result, compete for the remaining limited resources.

However, I find it difficult to remain silent when many of the board's most vocal critics did not vote in the last school election. If school budgets are passed, school boards would not have to make choices about what services to cut. If school budgets passed, ballot questions on courtesy busing would not be necessary. Adding to that problem is the inequitable way in which New Jersey funds its public schools. As a result, taxpayers take out their frustrations on local boards of education whose members are powerless to change funding formulas.

As the Sayreville Board of Education begins the process of constructing the budget it will put before borough residents in April, we hope that parents of schoolchildren will become informed, engaged and proactive. I strongly encourage all parents to join your PTOs, attend the public budget meetings and above all, register to vote, if you have not yet done so. When the courtesy busing question was defeated last April, many parents stated that they didn't know what the impact of a budget defeat would mean for their children.

Let this letter serve as public notification that now, not the day after the school elections when it is too late, is the time to become active, educated and involved. Hard lessons were learned last year, and we hope to avoid them from reoccurring in April.

The first public budget meeting, which was advertised in the press and posted on the district Web site, was held on Nov. 13. Only nine people attended, and three of them are regular attendees at all meetings. Only time will tell if more people will become involved and provide input. If not, it will be business as usual - apathy, whining and misguided criticism.

We need your input to formulate a budget that provides the best education for all our children with a tax increase that is fair to everyone. Each budget starts with a clean slate and everything is on the table, including full-day kindergarten and courtesy busing for students in grades kindergarten-5. Now, not after the election results have been tabulated, is the time to plan for the 2007-08 school year. If you don't get involved now, you may be the next one complaining after the fact and looking silly because you could have made the difference.

I will close with a quote from an American hero, Admiral James Stockdale, prisoner of war, Vietnam: "We have a strong sense of the rights of a citizen. But we've lost much of the sense of the corresponding duties, responsibilities and obligations of citizenship."

Mike Macagnone is president of the Sayreville Board of Education