School
Board President Werner
“begs to differ” with Council
President
By Richard Johnston
MOUNT OLIVE (4/30/09) –
Soon after Council President Russ Tepper formed a School
Budget Review Committee to study this year’s failed
Board of Education budget, School Board President Mark
Werner weighed in. It’s not his call, Werner said and he
maintains he’s got the law on his side.
Tepper apparently presumed it
was his responsibility to form the committee and named
four committee members, who even some of his Council
colleagues, had real problems with, and when he asked
Werner to join the committee and name another board
member and an administrator, Werner apparently refused
to have any part of it.
Tepper then expressed his
disappointment in Werner’s response to what he said was
“a very reasonable proposal and sincerely wanted to
‘allow’ the BOE to have input into the review.”
It was unfortunate that
Werner refused to participate, Tepper said, but the
review committee, because of the time constraints, will
have to go ahead without input from the school board
which, he said, will make its’ recommendations at the
May 12th Township Council Meeting.
Hold on there Mr. President,
Werner said in a press release in the early afternoon,
“As President of the Mount Olive Board of Education I
wish to set the record straight regarding the allegation
that the Board is refusing to meet with the Council
concerning our defeated budget.
“Both New Jersey Statute and Code dictate the
procedures that are to be followed after the defeat of a
school board budget. That process provides that the
governing body, or a formally approved committee
thereof, must consult with the board, or a formally
approved committee thereof, for the purposes of
determining the amount of the general fund tax levy.
Should either entity wish to have a majority of its
members present the meeting must be advertised in
accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act.”
According to Werner, at its
last meeting the board designated its own Budget
Committee to meet with the Council’s Committee and that
the Board deemed it “very important for its Chief School
Administrator and Chief Financial Officer to be present
at these meetings as well.”
He said Tepper “is under
the mistaken belief that he has the right to
unilaterally designate the structure of these meetings
and to establish the number of individuals who can
attend these meetings on the Board’s behalf.
“I have confirmed with both
Board Counsel and the Morris County Executive
Superintendent of Schools that ‘Tepper in legally
incorrect’.”
The Board, according to
Werner, “has the right to establish its own committee
(or the entire board if it wished) to meet with the
Council, just as the Council has the right to designate
its own committee.
“It is unfortunate that
President Tepper is taking such an unreasonable
position. Rather than seek to limit who can participate
in the process, one would think that President Tepper
would wish to obtain as much input as possible so that
any cuts that the Council makes will have the least
impact on our children and the educational process. I
am hopeful that President Tepper will reconsider his
position for the benefit of the entire Mount Olive
community.”
Seems to me we’ve been here
before. The township legal department and the school
board’s legal department could well be squaring off
again.
