The move from an April school board election to a November one means new deadlines to run as a candidate.

Now, candidates have until June 5 to file a petition to run in November, said the county clerk's office. Feb. 28 was the deadline under the April system.

Lakewood will still have an April school board election and budget vote, but nearly every other school district in Ocean County decided to move its school board election to November.

That also means the Manchester school budget will no longer be before voters and will instead be decided by the school board this spring, unless the school budget grows more than 2 percent. Only if the school district presents a budget more than the 2 percent cap will it be required to put the budget before voters.

A school administrator said recently that he does not anticipate exceeding the cap as the budget is formed. The preliminary budget will be voted on by board members during a March 1 special meeting, 6 p.m. at Ridgeway Elementary School. 

The move to a November election was allowed under a newly passed state law, giving districts the choice to keep an April election or move it to coincide with the general election in November.

Candidates will be listed in a separate section of the November ballot, as school board elections are nonpartisan.

Two seats are up for grabs in the first November election of the eight-member school board as the terms of board president Donald Webster and member James Griffin will expire this year, according to the Ocean County Clerk.