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Ask the Superintendent -
December 12, 2007
After nearly three years of planning for a
capital project, the day of the public vote December
4th, had finally arrived. Everyone who participated
in this process, Growth Task Force Members, Board of
Education, and administrators was prepared for the
community’s decision. Our expectations were high. We
also knew the referendum could be defeated. However,
no one could have predicted what happened when the
two voting machines were opened and not all of the
votes were recorded. Only 657 votes were documented
from the 2,655 ballots cast. This had never happened
in any prior school vote. There certainly was no
happiness, or for that matter, disappointment;
instead the emotion was one of disbelief and
uncertainty for there was no closure.
There were a number of theories as to what may have
happened, but it would take until Wednesday
afternoon until we would know for sure.
Wednesday morning was busy contacting the Orange
County Board of Elections, the manufacturer of the
voting machines, the Bond Counsel for the District,
and the legal firm that represents the District to
seek answers for many questions.
The mystery slowly unraveled and by late Wednesday
afternoon we had the needed answers as well as a
direction.
- The vote tally
at the close of the polls was:
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Yes |
No |
|
Machine 1 |
314 |
024 |
|
Machine 2 |
309 |
010 |
- The total
number of votes cast were 2,655.
- When the “no”
vote count in each machine reached 999 the next
“no” vote cast caused the machine to reset to
000. From this point forwarded the machines
continued to add each time the “no” lever was
pulled.
- By applying
the “missing” one thousand votes to the “no”
tally in each machine, the resulting sum equaled
the total number of ballots cast.
It was clear to the
Board of Education and district administrators that
the proposition had failed. The Board of Education
represents this community and has always been
sensitive to the concerns of the residents. The
Board now faced another problem; neither they nor
the District Clerk had the authority to determine
the outcome of this referendum vote. Only the
Commissioner of Education of the State of New York,
Mr. Richard Mills, has the authority to do so. An
emergency Board of Education meeting was held
Thursday evening, December 6th, authorizing the
District’s legal counsel to petition Commissioner
Mills to invalidate the December 4th referendum
vote. On the advice of our counsel, we have every
expectation the Commissioner will do that.
The referendum vote was not like our yearly budget
vote. If community residents fail to pass a school
budget vote in May, it is not uncommon to expect a
second vote the following month. School districts
usually trim or refine their budgets and resubmit
them to the public in June. This is not the case
with capital project referendums, for they are far
more complicated. There never was the intent to
place a “Plan B” or a different referendum before
the community during the remainder of the 2007/08
school year. It was clearly stated during the
multiple presentations made to community groups,
that this referendum would not be put up again
should it fail. It would be impossible to build an
operating budget for the 2008/09 school year,
administer the day-to-day activities of the school
district, and take a capital project that took three
years to create, by a 30 member committee, and
accurately change its design in a few short months.
For the immediate future, we must concentrate on
formulating the 2008/09 operating budget and wait
for the Commissioner’s decision.
Roy Reese
Superintendent of Schools
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