The three governing bodies of Oakland, Wyckoff, and Franklin Lakes met Tuesday night at Indian Hills High School to discuss the regional high school school budget recently voted down by all the towns except Wyckoff. In an attempt to respond to the defeated school budget within 30 days, the town councils have been meeting amongst themselves, with each other, and with the board. Tuesday night was a joint public appearance between all governing bodies and the public.
This was a quickly scheduled meeting and public turnout was low. The votes cast on April 15th defeating the budget were given voice by some residents who feel the school board needs to reign in spending. The Oakland Town Council, having heard these voices at the ballot box, fulfilled their understandable responsibility to represent the will of the people of Oakland; and, based on the voting results, it appeared they were also representing the will of the people in Franklin Lakes.
Defining a school board’s responsibility to a community does not lend itself to such simplicity. Elections are held to choose representatives to the school board by the entire community, but it is unclear as to who they are elected to represent. There are proponents who argue that their responsibility is to represent the interests of the school community comprised of students, teachers, and administrators. Other voters suggest officials are elected to represent all of the community, even those whose vested interest is in keeping taxes down.
Within a 30 day restriction mandated by Trenton, town officials in all three communities must negotiate on the regional school budget rejected by the majority of voters. The process, which all parties agreed “stinks”, began it’s mandated march towards resolution with a review of an extensive “prioritized” list provided to the Town Councils detailing what the schools need. As one of the goals of the meeting was to discuss what the schools do not need, it was suggested that a more progressive approach may have been a prioritized list of items The Board feels would have the least impact on services. The understanding being that their expertise, and intimate knowledge of the schools, would prove valuable as The Council seeks to fulfill their obligations. In a gesture of cooperation, the Town Council will receive a “re-prioritized” list.
The Oakland Council, with thousands of financial records to review, found themselves cordially isolated in their mitigatory efforts to define areas where appropriate savings might be considered. Representatives of The Board did discuss at length budgetary maneuvers which would give tax relief to voters, but the explicative offering was insufficient for The Oakland Council. Continued queries by The Council to clarify the tangible benefits left The Board unable to “make it anymore simple”, and their response appeared to leave the Oakland Council vulnerable to wearing the emperor’s new clothes when they answer to the voters.
One offhand comment from a member in the audience seemed to sum up the feeling of disconnect between The Board and the voters, “Perhaps we should replace the ballot box with a suggestion box, at least then we would know the value of our vote.”
Negotiations are continuing.