Making an educated decision on education

By SUZANNE MARINO
Staff Writer
MARGATE – The politicians may be jockeying for who is going to be a member of the Margate City Commission for the next four years, but another issue is riding on the May 8 ballot. A referendum question has the capability of significantly changing oversight of the city schools.
Voters will be asked to choose whether they wish to remain a Type I school district in which members of the Board of Education are appointed and the budget is approved by a Board of School Estimate or switch to a Type II district with an elected board and the power to vote on school budgets.
Both sides of the divide have been working of late to win votes and influence decisions.
Proponents of switching to a Type II school district have based their flashpoint on giving power to the people to say no to the budget and to vote for the people who make the decisions regarding schools.
On the flip side are the members of the Citizens of Margate City Committee, who prefer keeping the status quo and are urging voters to consider both the pros and cons of a Type II district.
“We want the voters to have all the facts so that they are able to make an educated decision when they vote. It may cost more in the long run with an elected school board,” said Steven Sinderbrand, a member of the committee.
By law, a Type II school board elected by residents would have nine members, while a Type I school district has seven members.
The citizens group claims in its literature that exposing board members to the election process will deter the quality of people who make up the board and detract from the time they are able to dedicate to education. The steps of getting to the election, having a ballot made up, sample ballots, securing the voting machines and paying poll workers would bring the cost of the election to near $10,000, the group says.
Community members on both sides of the referendum question have given every indication that they will be campaigning hard in the next few weeks to assure that registered voters make an educated decision on the future of the Margate Board of Education.