Politics & Government

School District and Towns Will Host Joint Workshop

Maplewood, South Orange and the BOE will convene Thursday to discuss schools, budgets.

Elected officials from the  the South Orange Board of Trustees and the South Orange - Maplewood Board of Education (BOE) will meet for a special workshop on Thursday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. in the district meeting room at 525 Academy St. 

Agenda items include the discussion of potentially moving the BOE elections to November, and how the move would affect the role of the Board of School Estimate; upcoming capital and redevelopment plans for both towns; budget previews; an update on residency issues and the district's reregistration process (and how the district works with the administrations of both towns on the issue), and emergency management. The agenda is attached to this article as a PDF.

The meeting is open to the public, but no voting or action is expected to be taken.

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The meeting will be led by Board President Beth Daugherty, Maplewood Mayor Vic DeLuca and South Orange Village President Alex Torpey.

Superintendent Brian Osborne will begin the meeting with an update about the school district. 

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"The Board of Education is committed to providing an excellent educational system for the children in South Orange and Maplewood," said Daugherty.

She continued,"We are grateful for the opportunity to share information with the governing officials from both municipalities that will enable us to work together to further this mission. This workshop will allow each entity to provide an overview of future capital improvement and development plans, as well as budgetary and tax challenges so we may better understand the combined impact of our decisions on the school system and our constituencies."

"I applaud the Board of Education for reaching out to the two governing bodies to discuss school board issues and budgetary items," said DeLuca. "By working together and better understanding each other's plans for the future, we can develop approaches to the financial and tax challenges before us. The meeting also will allow us to discuss ways to maintain a quality educational system. The Maplewood Township Committee will be prepared to listen to and share information with our colleagues."

"I think this will actually be a great chance for everyone to meet face-to-face be able to make sure we're all on the same page with regards to the schools' budget, ensuring excellence in our education system and a handful of other projects that are very important to our residents," said Torpey. "I'm glad the Board of Education reached out to us to schedule this meeting."


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