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Toms River Regional Schools elections (2017)
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Three of the nine seats on the Toms River Regional Schools school board in New Jersey were up for by-district general election on November 7, 2017. All three seats up for election were those representing the Toms River District. One former candidate and two newcomers joined the board: Ginny Rhine, Michael Horgan, and Michele Williams. The defeated candidates included board member Robert Onofrietti Jr., former candidates Al Caporaso and Teri Kubiel, and newcomers Tammy Coyle, Stephen Kaczala, and Al Schwartz.[1]
Horgan, Kaczala, and Williams ran in this election as a candidate slate. Kubiel, Rhine, and Schwartz also ran in this election as a slate called Toms River First.[2]
Elections
The Toms River Regional school board consists of nine members elected by district to three-year terms. Six are elected from Toms River Township, and one each is elected from the Boroughs of Pine Beach, Beachwood, and South Toms River.
To run for a school board in New Jersey, candidates must be U.S. citizens, registered to vote in the district for which they are running, and have lived in that district for at least one year. Candidates must also submit nominating petitions with the signatures of at least 10 registered voters in the district to get on the ballot. The filing deadline for this election was on July 31, 2017.[3]
To vote in New Jersey, you must be a U.S. citizen and a resident of the county for at least 30 days prior to the election. A voter must also be at least 18 years old by the time of the next election in order to register. The voter registration deadline in this election was October 17, 2017.[4]
- See also: Voting in New Jersey and Voter identification laws by state
Candidates and results
Toms River District
Results
| Toms River Regional Schools, Toms River District General Election, 3-year terms, 2017 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Ginny Rhine |
18.58% | 8,443 |
| Michele Williams |
17.38% | 7,899 |
| Michael Horgan |
15.34% | 6,970 |
| Teri Kubiel | 14.91% | 6,774 |
| Stephen Kaczala | 11.61% | 5,276 |
| Robert Onofrietti Jr. Incumbent | 10.94% | 4,972 |
| Al Schwartz | 10.90% | 4,952 |
| Write-in votes | 0.34% | 156 |
| Total Votes (100) | 45,442 | |
| Source: Ocean County Clerk, "2017 General Election November 7, 2017: Official Report," accessed March 22, 2018 | ||
Candidates
| Robert Onofrietti Jr. | Al Caporaso | Tammy Coyle | |||
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Michael Horgan 
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Stephen Kaczala | Teri Kubiel | |||
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| Ginny Rhine
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Al Schwartz | Michele Williams
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: New Jersey elections, 2017
This 2017 school board election in New Jersey shared the ballot with elections for:
The Ocean County Board of Elections did not have information posted on its website about any local elections sharing the ballot with this election as of October 26, 2017.
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines in this 2017 New Jersey school board race:
Endorsements
Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Campaign finance
Reports
The candidate slate Toms River First, consisting of Ginny Rhine, Teri Kubiel, and Al Schwartz, reported $18,218.00 in contributions and $6,318.63 in expenditures to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission as of October 24, 2017. No other candidates in this election reported contributions or expenditures as of that date.[2]
General guidelines
School board candidates in New Jersey had to file reports of their campaign financial activity with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission. Each candidate is required to appoint a treasurer (a candidate may serve as his or her own treasurer) and create a campaign bank account and file this information with the commission. Candidates must establish a reporting committee, and no later than 10 days after establishing a committee, the candidate must file the Single Candidate Committee Certificate of Organization and Designation of Campaign Treasurer and Depository form.[5][6]
A candidate must begin filing reports with the commission on a date that depends upon when the committee's financial activity begins. If a candidate committee is set up within five months or less of the due date of the 29-Day Pre-Election Report, the committee must file a 29-Day Pre-Election Report as the initial election fund report. If the committee is established more than five months prior to the due date of the 29-Day Pre-Election Report, the committee must file a quarterly report as its initial election fund report. Beginning the thirteenth day before the election day and ending on election day, if a candidate receives more than $1,600 from a single source, the committee must file a report within 48 hours.[7]
The table below displays the campaign finance reporting dates for this 2017 school board election.
Past elections
To see results from past elections in Toms River Regional Schools, click here.
What was at stake?
Issues in the election
Partisan control of board at stake
Although its elections are officially nonpartisan, most candidates for the Toms River school board were associated with a political party in the 2017 election. Leading up to the election, the board consisted of a Democratic majority, and unofficial election results showed that the majority would remain in place. All five of the majority members leading up to the election gained board membership after running as part of the Clean Slate, which took control of the board after the resignation of former Superintendent Michael Ritacco. Ritacco resigned and was eventually sentenced to 11 years in prison after charges of bribery and corruption. Prior to this occurrence, Republicans controlled the board.[8]
The 2017 election featured three candidates backed by the New Jersey Democrats: Michael Horgan, Stephen Kaczala, and Michele Williams, three candidates backed by the New Jersey Republicans: Teri Kubiel, Al Schwartz, and Ginny Rhine, and one candidate who ran as an independent: Robert Onofrietti Jr. Since more than one Democrat was elected, that party retained control of the board. If Onofrietti had won a seat, the party control would have been balanced at half Democratic and half Republican.[8]
Issues in the district
District superintendent under investigation for sexual harassment
The New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) filed a complaint stating that Toms River Superintendent David M. Healy made what the complaint called “inappropriate, sex-based comments” to a district guidance counselor on June 22, 2017. NJEA lawyer Steven R. Cohen stated that Healey made multiple comments about the counselor's legs, saying he was “distracted by (her) calves,” asking how often she worked out, and suggesting she ought to be in a contest with another district employee for "the best legs."[9]
Stephan R. Leone, the Toms River school board's attorney, said he referred the case for investigation to retired Ocean County Assignment Judge Vincent J. Grasso. Grasso was asked to conduct an independent investigation into the complaint and then report his findings to the school board.
Contract negotiations
The Asbury Park Press reported on August 12, 2017, that "secret discussions between the Board of Education and Superintendent of Schools David M. Healy" were underway to extend the superintendent's contract. Healy's contract was not set to end until June 30, 2019. The discussions were held prior to the school board election scheduled for November 7, 2017. If the superintendent's contract were extended, the Asbury Park Press reported, a "new contract for the superintendent could make it nearly impossible for future Toms River school boards to terminate Healy without significant financial cost well into the 2020s."[10]
Report a story for this election
Ballotpedia researches issues in school board elections across the United States, but information availability is a challenge for us in many school districts. Please contact us about the issues that impact your local school district. Note that not all submissions may meet Ballotpedia's coverage requirements for inclusion.
Candidate survey
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About the district
- See also: Toms River Regional Schools, New Jersey
Toms River Regional Schools is located in Ocean County in east-central New Jersey. The seat of county government is Toms River. Ocean County was home to an estimated 592,497 residents between 2010 and 2016, according to the United States Census Bureau.[11] The district was the fifth-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 16,125 students.[12]
Demographics
Ocean County underperformed in comparison to New Jersey as a whole in terms of higher education attainment from 2011 to 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 26.9 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 36.8 percent of all state residents. The median household income in the county was $61,994, compared to $72,093 for the entire state. County residents lived below the poverty level at a rate of 10.9 percent, while that rate was 10.8 percent for all state residents.[11]
| Racial Demographics, 2016[11] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race | Ocean County (%) | New Jersey (%) |
| White | 92.9 | 72.4 |
| Black or African American | 3.5 | 15.0 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3 | 0.6 |
| Asian | 2.0 | 9.8 |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Two or More Races | 1.3 | 2.2 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 9.1 | 20.0 |
Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Toms River Regional Schools New Jersey election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Toms River Regional Schools | New Jersey | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Ocean County New Jersey, "2017 General Election November 7, 2017," accessed November 8, 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, "Filings," accessed October 24, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey School Boards Association, "How to Become a School Board Member," accessed August 29, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "Register to Vote!" accessed August 29, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Permanent Statutes, "Title 19:44A-11," accessed January 9, 2014
- ↑ New Jersey Permanent Statutes, "Title 19:44A-10," accessed January 9, 2014
- ↑ New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, "Compliance Manual for Candidates," accessed January 9, 2014
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Shore News Network, "Democrats and Republicans Prep for Battle for Control of Toms River’s Quarter Billion Dollar School Budget," September 25, 2017
- ↑ Asbury Park Press, "Toms River school chief under investigation on sexual harassment claim," July 18, 2017
- ↑ Asbury Park Press, "Toms River school chief, facing sex harassment claim, in secret talks for new contract," August 12, 2017
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 United States Census Bureau, "Quickfacts:Ocean County, New Jersey," accessed September 5, 2017
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data, file ccd_lea_052_1414_w_0216161a, 2014-2015," accessed November 16, 2016
| Toms River Regional Schools elections in 2017 | |
| Ocean County, New Jersey | |
| Election date: | November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | Toms River District: Incumbent, Robert Onofrietti Jr. • Al Caporaso • Tammy Coyle • Michael Horgan • Stephen Kaczala • Teri Kubiel • Ginny Rhine • Al Schwartz • Michele Williams |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
