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Residents approve $39.3 million tax levy Sparta voters oust two incumbents from the school board SPARTA - Voters vented their frustrations this week again over an inability to solve the district’s overcrowded high school classrooms and mounting student population by ousting two incumbents from the school board. Paul Johnson was the lone incumbent elected to fill the three open seats on the board when residents went to the polls Tuesday. Challengers Michael Schill Jr. and Keith Smith will join Johnson on the board for three-year terms after defeating incumbents Armen Koochagian and Mimi Sharpe. In the past two school board elections, five incumbents have failed to regain seats on the board. By a 1,324-1,099 margin, voters also approved the school district’s $39,354,680 tax levy, which will represent a 3.3-cent increase per $100 of assessed property value or $33 per $100,000 compared to last year’s 7-cent adjustment. For the average assessed home in Sparta, the approved budget translates to a $99 property tax increase from last year. In unofficial counts, Johnson collected 1,449 votes; Schill, 1,280; Smart, 1,149, Sharpe, 970; Koochagian, 836; and former board member Gunter Fraunenpreis, 489. The Sussex County Clerk will make public the final tabulations Friday. For almost three years, the school board struggled to find land to build a new school before settling on expansion and renovation of the existing facility on Mountain Road. In September, township residents will go to the voting booth again to approve or reject the $71.5 million referendum for the project. While all candidates agreed that something had to be done about the enrollment dilemma, the manner in which they supported a plan for the high school was often a forum for contentious debate. Schill, who failed in an election campaign last year, said the school board hasn’t addressed the enrollment crisis openly and properly. “The community wants a change on the board,” said Schill. “I was the only candidate who didn’t support the referendum. I think this vote casts some doubt as to whether the referendum will pass in September.” Johnson, a vocal critic of the school board president David Slavin and superintendent Thomas Morton, has taken the district to task over the upcoming referendum, procedures and administrative salaries. “This validates my feeling that the business of the board should be open to criticism and suggestion,” he said. “I was sad to see how the debate degenerated to name-calling and casting aspersions. Hopefully, that will now be all behind us.” Johnson said the board, which was often sharply divided, will need to work with the administration, the teachers, the township council and the community to solve the district’s problems. “I am looking forward,” said Schill, who only weeks ago tangled with Ronald Wolfe, the assistant superintendent for business, over budget transactions at a school board meeting. “This is done. This is over despite what was done in the past. Today, we start off working together to make Sparta the best school system in the state.” Smith, a seven-year township resident, was a member of the Sparta Community Facilities Taskforce, which, after an extensive investigation, staunchly supported an aggressive plan to address the growing student population problem. For their part, school administrators steered clear from commenting on the meaning and politics of Tuesday’s results and focused on the gains. “My concern is the budget,” said Wolfe. “The voters and citizens supported the budget and that’s important.” Fixed costs including salaries and benefits will make up about 80 percent of Sparta’s annual schools budget. Wolfe said the district was able to crunch numbers without trimming staff through breakage - the practice of filling an existing position at a reduced salary after a longtime teacher or senior staff member retires or leaves the district. This year, Sparta officials plan to replace three teachers who intend to retire and add at least another senior administrator for curriculum and development district-wide. Sparta spends $1,806 less per pupil annually than the state average of $11,241.