Spring 2023 school board election results: See how your North Jersey district voted
Twelve of New Jersey's 600 school districts held elections on Tuesday.
The rest will hold elections in November.
Until April 2012, when a state law was passed that allowed districts to switch to the November general election, all school elections were held in the spring, and voters had a say on school spending plans. Now only voters whose districts hold elections in April get to vote yes or no on school budgets.
The following districts held elections for school board candidates and spending plans: Cliffside Park, Fairview, Passaic, Totowa, Fredon, Montague, Irvington, Newark, North Bergen, Weehawken, West New York and New Brunswick.
See who's on the ballot: Your guide to North Jersey spring school board elections
Here are the results for the districts in North Jersey:
Cliffside Park election results
School officials confirmed that residents approved the district's $38.1 million school tax levy by 295 votes to 140, with 2.9% of registered voters casting ballots. Three Board of Education incumbents ran unopposed and were reelected: Judith Abreu with 429 votes, Teddy Tarabokija with 422 votes and Carl Raincourt with 416 votes.
Fairview election results
Voters approved the elementary school district's $16.2 million tax levy by 120 to 24, with 3% of the district's 6,194 voters casting ballots. Three Board of Education incumbents ran unopposed and were reelected: Tonoin Berisha with 160 votes, Kenneth Schmitt with 140 votes and Hossam Elsamra with 128 votes.
East Hanover election results
Incumbents Catherine Pfund-Olsen received 316 votes and Joseph Troise got 326 votes to retain their seats on the board. Michael Foti, with 418 votes, topped the voting to earn the seat vacated by Anthony Barisciano. Philomeno Mattie, with 256 votes, completed the field. Voters also said yes to a district question to raise $22.8 million for the 2023-24 school year by a vote of 369 to 234.
East Hanover has 9,119 registered voters. Of 624 votes cast, 178 were by mail-in ballot.
Totowa election results
Municipal officials said the 2023-24 school budget of $24.6 million passed easily, by 327 to 91. With the local school tax levy increasing by about $390,000, local school taxes will increase by $42 for the average assessed home of $396,000.
Only three candidates ran for the three open school board seats, with Nicholas Vancheri receiving 554 votes, Heather Antonucci 560 and Kristen Coiro 570.
Passaic election results
After a very light turnout, with about 4% of registered voters going to the polls, Passaic's proposed $392.7 million school budget for the 2023-24 school year was approved by a vote of 363-80.
With the budget's approval, local school taxes will increase by about $35 per year on the average assessed home of $350,000. The last time taxpayers saw an increase in the school tax portion of their bills was in 2014.
Incumbents Christina Schratz, Arthur Soto and Leslie Zuniga all ran unopposed and respectively received 419, 416 and 398 votes.
Fredon election results
Fredon voters passed the district's $5.5 million budget, with 203 voters choosing to approve it and 130 voting against it, according to unofficial county results.
The budget includes a tax levy of $4.2 million, an increase of just under 2% from $4.1 million in last year's budget. Taxpayers will see a yearly increase of $51.10 for a property assessed at $100,000.
Only two incumbent board members ran for three open seats. Vice President Arne Olsen received 254 votes for one of two available three-year terms, while Anthony Corcella secured the lone one-year term with 223 votes.
Montague election results
Montague residents approved a total budget of $13.4 million for the district, according to preliminary county results. The operating budget of $9.6 million is a 4.5% increase over the previous $9.2 million budget, and the $6.5 million tax levy is unchanged from the current budget.
Four board candidates ran unopposed for open board seats. Incumbents Paul Brislin (217 votes) and Andree Campbell (192) and challenger Jaime Johnson (180) secured three open seats for three-year terms, and incumbent Christopher Bell (207) was the only candidate for a one-year term.
The following staff writers contributed to this report: Marsha A. Stoltz, William Westhoven, Matt Fagan and Kyle Morel.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ BOE election results 2023: See school board, budget votes
