Toms River School Board Election Results For 2020

This article was updated at 8:45 p.m.

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The polls have closed in New Jersey and the votes are being counted in the 2020 General Election.

In Toms River, there are three seats up for election on the Toms River Regional Board of Education, and nine candidates are vying for those positions.

Lisa Contessa, who ran unsuccessfully for the board in 2019, is campaigning with Ken Londregan and Ashley Palmiere under the "Toms River 1st" slogan. Michele Williams is running with Rachel Remelgado and Daynne Glover under the "Children First" slogan. Bridget Maillard is running with former board members Robert Onofrietti Jr. and Christopher Raimann under the "Moving TR Forward" slogan.

Unofficial tallies posted by the Ocean County Board of Elections had Contessa with 13,040, Londregan with 10,483, Palmiere with 10,712, Williams with 10,749, Remelgado with 8,980, Glover with 7,603, Maillard with 8,932, Onofrietti with 8,128, and Raimann with 8,001.

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The campaign for the three unpaid seats has been bitter with claims and counter-claims and social media fights. With only Williams running as an incumbent, at least two seats in January will be occupied by people who are not currently on the board.

When the board reorganizes in January, the new members and current ones will be faced with the ongoing efforts to get students back into the schools in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, along with the impact of S2, including an anticipated $7 million in cuts for the 2021-22 school budget and a required 2 percent increase in the property tax levy.

The finances have been the prime issue in the campaign.

"We need to cut waste, while managing a well-rounded quality educational experience for our children," Contessa has said.

"We must preserve sports, the arts and all the programs that make for an excellent education," Longdregan said.

"Our community is suffering losses that impact our students and teachers while our taxes continue to rise," Palmiere said.

Williams said she and her running mates back the district's participation in the lawsuit against the Dpeartment of Education seeking the formula it uses under S2 to determine how much aid a district is entitled to receive and its ability to pay for its education.

She said the district has maintained quality even in the face of the cuts. "We achieved the distinction of being among 373 school districts in the US and Canada to simultaneously achieve increases in access to Advanced Placement courses for a broader number of students and also maintain the rate at which our AP students earned scores of 3 or higher on an AP exam," she said.

"We need these funds to provide a thorough and efficient education to our children, keep our students and staff safe, and reduce the burden on taxpayers," Remelgado said of the state funding.

" The school board needs an 'all hands on deck' strategy to advocate for the restoration of this funding, which includes partnering with the school administration, local and county government, parents, teachers, businesses, and community-based organizations," Glover said. "We need to speak as one voice ."

Maillard and her running mates have assailed administrative spending and want an audit of spending and cuts to property taxes, despite the requirement under S2 that the district increase the property tax levy.

"Programs being cut for our students, valuable staff positions being eliminated or not renewed, and undisciplined spending by the current administration" led her to run, Maillard said.

"We have some severely understaffed and overstaffed areas in this district. It is time to provide help where needed," Onofrietti said.

"The last cuts should be made in the classroom along with preserving our educators," Raimann said. "The tax and spending has to stop."

For full coverage of the 2020 election in New Jersey, go here: New Jersey Elections 2020

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