Appointed, not elected

If you’d favor Middlesex Borough’s mayor picking who serves on the Board of Education – rather than voters continuing to do so – you might have a chance in the Nov. 4 general election to make that possible.

A petition effort was quietly started in recent weeks to get the required signatures needed to put that proposal on this fall’s general election ballot. The move to collect signatures and publicize the reasons for a ballot question figures to kick into high gear in the coming weeks, according to organizers.

The petition drive is the latest fallout from the K-12 district’s ongoing turmoil, which includes community concerns about school spending, the still-unresolved teachers’ contract, and an administrative change at Hazelwood School.

Vincent Pileggi, a recent Middlesex High School graduate who ran unsuccessfully as a BOE write-in candidate in 2024, composed the proposed ballot question that would be put before voters.

Laura Thomasey, a former MHS teacher and Borough Council member, is one of several residents collecting petition signatures. She has been a persistent questioner of board and administrative decisions at public meetings.

Proponents estimate they must collect about 370 signatures from legally registered voters to get the question on the ballot. That number has not yet been verified by Middlesex County election officials. It is dictated by law, based on a percentage of borough voters who participated in the most recent state General Assembly election.

The signed petition sheets must be turned in at least 60 days before the election, Pileggi said.

If the question makes it to the November ballot, is approved by voters,  and becomes law, the Middlesex borough school system would be changed to a Type I district. It is currently a Type II district.

In a Type I district, the sitting mayor appoints Board of Education members. In a Type II district, board members are elected by voters. The vast majority of New Jersey districts allow voters to elect school board members. There are only about 20 Type I districts where the mayor appoints them.

An online version of the related statute states that sitting Middlesex school board members would continue serving until next June 30, if the proposal becomes law. At that point, mayoral appointees would take over.

Potentially, Mayor Jack Mikolajcyk, a former Middlesex BOE president, could receive the authority to name school board appointees.

Asked about the matter following the Borough Council’s June 17 meeting, Mikolajczyk noted that many of the current Type I districts are in municipalities that – unlike Middlesex Borough – have full-time mayors.

Mikolajczyk said that after appointing board members, Middlesex’s sitting mayor would be obligated to ensure they run the district properly, a job that could be time-consuming.

“I just don’t think it’s the right way to go,” Mikolajczyk said. “I would do my best (if the question passes). But there’s only so many hours in the day to be an effective manager.”

PIleggi and Thomasey, however, are fully behind the proposal. It would give municipal officials a say in school district spending, an aspect both said they strongly advocate. The petition touts other benefits that organizers see in the reclassification.

“In a Type I district, there is greater alignment between municipal and school leadership,” it reads. “Appointing board members can improve accountability and professional qualifications, reduce campaign-related influence, and promote continuity in long-term planning. Financial oversight is handled by a joint committee of municipal and school officials, providing a more centralized and strategic approach to budgeting.”

“This model has been used successfully in other municipalities across New Jersey,” the petition continues. “Supporters believe it provides a more efficient, transparent, and responsive governance structure that helps the school district focus more on education and less on politics.”

Pileggi mentioned the possibility of a petition effort during public comments at a recent Middlesex school board meeting. It drew no response from board members or administrators present. There will be efforts to educate the community about the proposal such as by setting up a related Facebook page, he said.

Some community members have had questions about the proposd reclassification, Pileggi said. The level of frustration with the board, he added, would seem to help its chance of passage by voters.

Thomasey said voters she’s spoken to tend to support giving board appointment power to the mayor. Some, she acknowledged, have questioned the potential relinquishing of their ability to directly elect board members.

“It’s really a disaster what’s been going on with the Board of Education,” Thomasey said. “A lot of people are fed up.”

In recent years, there have been no successful attempts to switch the classifications of Garden State school districts from Type II to Type I. In 2016, Carteret voters shot down a proposal to switch from Type II to a Type I district by a roughly 2-to-1 margin. Carteret’s Board of Education had passed a resolution putting the measure on the ballot.

Four years later, Jersey City politicos moved to hold a referendum on giving that city’s mayor BOE appointment authority, but the effort was abandoned.

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