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August 19, 2008
Facing a firestorm of criticism from religious, community, and political leaders, officials in Edison have rescheduled a school funding vote that would have conflicted with Rosh Hashana.
John DiMuzio, Edison’s superintendent of schools, announced Tuesday that the vote — originally scheduled for Sept. 30, the first day of Rosh Hashana — would be rescheduled for Dec. 9.
The move was welcomed by the Anti-Defamation League, one of a number of Jewish groups that had complained that the original date was unfair to those observing the Jewish New Year.
“We are heartened that the Edison Public School District recognized that scheduling the vote on Rosh Hashana effectively created a separate and more burdensome voting procedure for Jewish residents of Edison,” said Etzion Neuer, regional director of ADL’s New Jersey office. “The rescheduling of the vote is a welcome development and establishes an equal voting process for all residents.”
The $57.8 million referendum seeks to expand and build schools (see sidebar).
Responding to complaints, school officials had initially sought assistance from the state Department of Education, seeking permission to hold the vote on a Tuesday either immediately before or after Rosh Hashana.
However, state law allows only four specific dates annually — in September, December, January, and March — to hold such an election.
The decision to put the new December date up for a vote at the school board meeting scheduled for Thursday was made after DiMuzio polled each member individually and concluded there would be a better chance of passing the referendum once the controversy calms down.
Board vice president Joseph Romano said he was somewhat taken aback by the uproar generated by the board’s original decision.
“No one meant to offend anybody by this,” he said. “I only found out it was a holiday after the fact, and we were already going forward with it by then. If I offended anybody, I apologize, but I need to get these classrooms moving forward.
“People are saying I’m a bad guy, but I’m not. I wanted to be on the board to give people a voice, but I have 3,500 kids who don’t have a seat in a classroom.”
Romano said the board was originally eager to schedule the election on Sept. 30 not only because it was the first date, but also because the next date allowed by law — Dec. 9 — falls at the start of the winter, when any construction would have to be delayed.
“It’s only two months, but it adds another three to five months before we can get a shovel in the ground,” he said.
Rectify the situation
State Sen. Barbara Buono said it was “unconscionable” to hold the bond election on Rosh Hashana.
Prior to the rescheduling announcement, several area legislators took up the call to change the election date in Edison.
State Sen. Barbara Buono (D-Dist. 18) vowed to seek legislation that would block the election for the referendum, calling it “unconscionable for anyone to push ahead with the bond vote once they realized it would fall on Rosh Hashana.”
Assemblymen Patrick Diegnan Jr. (D-Dist. 18) and Peter Barnes III (D-18) issued a joint press release Monday that urged Corzine administration officials to allow districts like Edison to postpone the September votes, “if even by one week.”
The district had been aware the vote conflicted with the Jewish holy day but had asked that those unable to vote use absentee ballots. Local Jewish leaders, later joined by other religious leaders and lawmakers, said that option was unacceptable.
Josh Pruzansky, director of Agudath Israel of New Jersey, organized an Aug. 14 letter signed by leaders of the Anti-Defamation League, Orthodox Union, American Jewish Committee, the NJ State Association of Jewish Federations, and his own group, which represents fervently Orthodox congregations.
“By asking Jewish residents to cast absentee ballots, you are effectively establishing a separate and more cumbersome voting procedure for a whole group of Edison residents based solely on their religion,” according to the letter, which was addressed to state commissioner of education Lucille E. Davy and DiMuzio.
The Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County also lodged a complaint.
“We are not interested in a hollow protest. Rather we expect to work together to rectify the situation and ensure it is not replicated,” read the e-mailed letter signed by Philip Cantor and Gabriela Sadote Sleppin, the chair and director, respectively, of the JCRC.
Rabbi Bernhard Rosenberg of Congregation Beth-El in Edison, who led initial calls to demand a change of date, had threatened to urge fellow Jews to vote against the referendum if the date was not moved in order “to teach [officials] a lesson that you don’t disenfranchise the Jewish community.”
Other religious leaders who objected to the original scheduling included Monsignor Michael J. Alliegro, rector of the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi in Metuchen, and Rabbi Deborah Bravo of Reform Temple Emanu-El in Edison, who is also president of the Metuchen-Edison Interfaith Clergy Association.
What the vote means
THE EDISON REFERENDUM seeks voter approval for $57.8 million to expand three township elementary schools as well as construct a new school building. The projects would increase the district’s elementary school capacity by nearly 1,200 students, officials say.
John DiMuzio, Edison’s superintendent of schools, initially said postponing the vote until Dec. 9 — the next available date allowed under state regulations — would likely mean that any construction work would not begin until spring.
“We are running out of room,” he said. “We have 14,300 students, and we haven’t built an elementary school since 1972. We had a construction committee of 30 people from the community who worked on this, and their feeling was that we need to do this as soon as possible.”
— DEBRA RUBIN
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