Several school districts in the 70and73.com coverage area held Board of Education elections on Tuesday.
A tax referendum, part of the Medford Township Board of Education election, went down in defeat, but the vote was fairly close.Â
Voters were asked to approve significantly increasing taxes to pay for new positions and enhance the district's security system. Read 70and73.com's article here.
The referendum got 7,063 "no" votes (52.56%) and 6,375 "yes" votes (47.44%).
Evon DiGangi, the school district's business administrator, told 70and73.com in an article before the election said that if the questions were approved, property taxes for the 2024-25 school year would increase by $716 for a home assessed at the municipal average of about $330,889 and increase by $380 in the 2025-26 school year. These amounts are in addition to the tax increases Medford residents are already expected to pay as a result of the 2024-25 school budget process, according to DiGangi. Â
Evesham Township
There were three openings on the board, but only two candidates. Kevin Peelman, received 17,367 votes, or 48.81% of the total, and Aneesh Kanthan, received 15,460 votes, or 43.45% of the total.Â
Lenape Regional High School District
- From Medford Lakes:Â Jung "Steve" Lee, who received 1,702 votes, or 97.76% of the total. The other votes were write-ins.
- From Mount Laurel: Nicole Moore Samson, who received 18,977 votes, or 98.93% of the total. The other votes were write-ins.
- From Shamong: Samuel B. Green won with 1,564 votes, or 50.32% of the total. The losing candidate was Anne Ehrke, who received 1,521 votes, or 48.94% of the total.Â
Medford Lakes
The two winners in the field of four candidates were Dana Schultz, who received 925 votes, or 25.99% of the total, and Benjamin A. Wilson III, who got 892 votes, or 25.06% of the total. The losing candidates were Jaime DiPerna and Corey J. Landante, who each received 857 votes, or 24.08% of the total. Total voter turnout was 3,559.
Medford Township
The three winners in the field of four candidates were Peyton Ebbeson, who received 7,940 votes, or 28.85% of the total; Kenyette Jones, who received 7,347 votes, or 26.7% of the total and Alexa Folsom, who received 6,658 votes, or 24.19% of the total. Losing candidate Dawn Cappello got 5,261 votes, or 19.12% of the total.Â
Moorestown
The three winners in the field of five candidates were Jill Fallows Macaluso, who received 6,069 votes, or 22.9% of the total; Melissa Arcaro Burns, who received 5,566 votes, or 21% of the total and Ruchika Arora, who received 5,043 votes, or 19.03% of the total. The losing candidates were Caitlin Berman, who got 4,842 votes, or 18.27% of the total and Cheryl Makopoulos, who got 4,703 votes, or 17.74% of the total.
Mount Laurel
Three candidates ran for three spots on the school board. John Lasken received 16,527 votes, or 34.4% of the total. Susan Lovato received 15,902, or 33.1% of the total and Melissa DeClementi got 15,308 votes, or 31.86% of the total.Â
