Welcome to a meeting of the 10 Central Regional High School Board of Education. Please be advised that this and all meetings of the board are open to the public and media consistent with the open public meetings act NJSA 104 col4-6 and this advanced notice was required
therein and has been provided. Meeting notice was also posted in the boardroom of the upper school campus, sent to the Courier News, Star Ledger, Express Times, and the Hunter County Democrat, and sent to the clerks of Delaware Township, East Amwell, Flemington Burough, Raritan Township, and
Readington Township. The public will have an opportunity to be heard as shown on the agenda. Please rise for the flag salute, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Um, Bronlin, would you be kind enough to read the mission statement for us? Hunan Central is an innovative educational community dedicated to the intellectual, social, and emotional
safety and growth of all students. While fostering curiosity and promoting wellness, we aspire to create powerful learning experiences, establish strong partnerships, and serve as contributing members of society. >> Thank you. the election results in
November um for three open Ronin Township seats or seats that had um expired um Miss Bryce, uh Miss Wallace, and Reverend Williams. At this time, if I could ask the three of you to please walk to the center
carefully if you can, and I'll administer the oath of office, please. Oh, Mr. Williams, you need your paper. Unless you have a really good memory, which I don't United States of
>> True and to the government established in the United to the government established in the United States. >> Under the authority of the people, >> I pray
for everything by law. specifically program specifically. of Christ. I >> swear that
I prescribed my law office of the board of education. and I will faithfully and >> I will faithfully all of that according to the best of my
ability. I'm going to take a roll call of who's present. Mrs. Bryce >> here. Miss Gong >> here. >> Dr. Halpern here. Mrs. Kellogg >> here. >> Miss Lacosta >> here. >> Mrs. Rothell >> here. >> Mrs. Santangelo
>> here. >> Reverend Wallace >> here. >> Oh, I'm sorry. I knew it first time. So sorry. >> Thank you. >> Ms. Wallace >> here. >> And Reverend Williams >> here. >> Thank you.
Our next goal is to appoint a new president uh for the board of education. Um so at this time I would like to open the floor for nominations um for president board president. >> I would like to nominate De Kellogg as
president of the board. >> Um I would like to comment on that. Um >> I don't >> I don't think there's room for comments >> nominations at this point. >> Okay. Um, I'm disappointed by that nomination. Um, and I will like to
nominate Miss Gong. >> You would like I'm sorry. Would you like to nominate Miss Gong? >> I believe Miss Gong has better leadership skills. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. But I I will not serve as president of the board, but thank you very much. That was very sweet of you. >> Any other nominations?
>> Okay, I'm going to close the floor. In each of your folders, there's a ballot. Um, if you would be kind enough to write who you would elect or select for board president and sign your name, I will collect those and read those into the minutes. Good.
The ballot from Mrs. Bryce is D. Kellogg. The ballot from Miss Kellogg is Miss Kellogg. The ballot from Mr. W or Reverend Williams is D. Kellogg. The ballot from Mrs. Santangelo is Miss
Gong. The ballot from uh Miss Lacosta is Miss Gong. The ballot from Miss Wallace is Mrs. Kellogg. The ballot from Dr. Halpern is Mrs. Kellogg.
The ballot from Miss Rothell abstain. And the ballot from Miss Gong is Miss Kellogg. Since Miss Gong is is um not interested in holding the position of board president and the majority of those present is um for Mrs. Kellogg. Mrs.
Kellogg will be the next board president. Congratulations. >> Yeah. At this point, you take over the meeting and do the vice president. >> I open the floor for nominations for vice president. Sandra Gong.
>> Are there any nominate Jessica Ruffle? >> Are there any other nominations? >> I'll close the nominations. So, same instructions as before. write the name on the ballot and Miss uh Spitzer will collect them. and the ballots for board vice
president, Miss Gong. um is Miss Gong. Miss Rothal is Miss Rothowl. Um Dr. Halpern is Miss Gong. Oops. Miss Wallace is
Miss Gong. Miss Laccasta is Miss Rothell. Dr. or Reverend Williams is Miss Gong. Mrs. Santangelo is Mrs. Rotal. Uh, Miss Kellogg is Miss Gong and Mrs. Bryce is Miss Gong.
And I have nine. With the majority of the board um present, uh, Miss Gong is, uh, going to be the next vice president of the board of education. Congratulations. Okay. So, the next item on the agenda is the board member code of ethics.
Um, so the the motion is affirmation of the New Jersey School Board Association code of ethics. Pre pres pursuant to NJSA12-21 at SEC, the board of education shall discuss the board member code of ethics
annually at regularly scheduled public meetings. Each member shall sign documentation that he or she has received a copy of it and has read and understood it. resolved that the New Jersey School Board Association code of ethics shall be considered the official
code of ethics of the 10 Central High School Board of Education. Code of ethics. A I will uphold and enforce all laws, rules, and regulations of the state of state board of education and court orders pertaining to schools.
Desired changes shall be brought about only through legal and ethical procedures. B. I will make decisions in terms of the educational welfare of of children and will seek to develop and maintain public schools that meet in the individual
needs of all children regardless of their ability, race, creed, sex, or social standing. C. I will confine my board action to policym, planning, and appraisal. and I will help to frame policies and plans only after the board
has consulted those who will be affected by them. D. I will carry out my responsibility not to administer the schools but together with my fellow board members to see that they are well-run. E. I will recognize that authority rests with the board of
education and will make no personal promises nor take any private action that may compromise the board. F. I will refuse to surrender my independent judgment to special interest or partisan political groups or to use the school
for personal gain or for the gain of friends. G. I will hold confidential all matters pertaining to the school which if disclosed would needlessly injure individuals or the schools. In all other
matters, I will provide accurate information and in concert with my fellow board members, interpret to the staff the aspirations of the community for its school. H. I will vote to appoint the best qualified personnel available after consideration of the
recommendation of the chief administrative officer. I I will support and protect school personnel in the proper performance of their duties. J. I will refer all complaints to the chief administrative officer and will act on
such complaints at public meetings only after the failure of an administrative solution. So with that I move item E1. Do I have a second? Second. >> Mrs. Spitzer, roll call.
>> Mrs. Bryce, >> yes. >> Miss Gong, >> yes. >> Dr. Halpern, >> yes. Miss Lacosta, >> yes. >> Mrs. Rothell, >> yes. >> Mrs. Santangelo, >> yes. >> Miss Wallace, >> yes. >> Reverend Williams, >> yes.
>> And Mrs. Kellogg, >> yes. >> All yes. Motion carries. Jess, over to you. Thank you. Uh, good evening everyone. Happy New Year. I hope everyone had a nice holiday. As you know, our students and staff just returned today from our winter break,
and we're just settling back into the rhythm of the school year, similar to what I think our organizational meeting tonight does for our board of education. I want to welcome our new board members, Nicole Bryce, Marisella Wallace, and Vernon Williams. And congratulations to
D. Kellogg and Sandra Gong for your election to the president and vice president offices. I also want to thank Mrs. Santangelo, Mrs. Lacosta for your service last year as president and vice president. I have a very short update for you tonight following up on my
report from December. As I noted, we are well into preparing for next school year. Starting this week, we will begin to visit our middle schools from our sending districts to welcome our income incoming nth grade students, the class of 2030.
We will include our presentation and resources for families on our website for our parents and also for our students to reference. Additionally, please remember that we will also host our annual openhouse and scheduling information night on January 15th.
Current parents and eighth grade parents and students are invited to attend starting at 6:30 to explore elective offerings, course offerings, and academic departments, speak with teachers, tour campus, and there will also be a special presentation for 8th grade families at the start of the
night. Our parent engagement committee will also be there as a resource for our parents. I hope to see some of you all at this event. We'll resume our normal structure for these reports at our regular board meeting on January 26th. Thank you all and I will turn the
meeting back over to you D. >> Thank you. Um this takes us to our first residence forum. This is for items that are on the agenda only. So essentially um the organizational items in uh number H.
Please make sure to sign in um and state your name and where you're from. on. Can you hear me? Okay. Rebecca Peterson, Raron Township. Um, I'd like to discuss uh one of the policies that's on the agenda for readoption tonight, policy 5770.
Uh, we need to have a talk about student rights in this district. Vape sensors were introduced here during the 22 23 school year and since that time students have faced repeated unproductive and unnecessary searches. Worse yet, the administration has become far too
comfortable with the use of searches as a tool of authority and appears to have forgotten that every search is legally governed by individualized reasonable suspicion. The vape when a vape sensor is triggered, all students in the bathroom at that time are subject to search. Ask yourselves, how many
innocent students should be searched for the crime of relieving themselves? Let's put this in numbers easy to visualize. If 10 kids are searched every day, are you okay with two of those kids being completely innocent? How about three kids? Would you say it's okay to go four
kids who are innocent being searched for every kid, six kids who are vaping? In reality, it is well over half of the searches that are innocent. This district searches many to catch a few. This isn't effective enforcement. It is invasive overreach. These searches teach
students that they are presumed guilty and that they have no more rights than a prisoner. These searches also waste important classroom time and teachers are left trying to make up that critical time which was unnecessarily taken away. This district frequently emphasizes the
importance of student mental health. I and others on the board raised mental and physical impact of these searches with the administration on several occasions. Students have reported anxiety, humiliation, stress. Many students avoid using the bathroom to
reduce the risk of a search, which carries real physical consequences. The administration has remained unconcerned about these mental health impacts. Policy 5770 dictates whenever possible, a search will be conducted by the principal in the presence of the student
and the students parents and or legal guardians. It is unclear how a parent could possibly know to be present for a search when parents aren't contacted until after a search is complete. By cutting parents out of the picture, these searches undermine trust between
families and the schools. I became aware of this failure to notify last year when I received an email after the fact that there was an incident in my son's class and that he had quote shared unquote his belongings with the administration. I learned that a teacher believed that
an answer key to a test was missing and presumed stolen. In response, the administration searched each student in the class, over 20 students. This was an unlawful search. Something I would have made clear had I been contacted prior to
that search. Let me be absolutely clear. It is not lawful to search an entire class for a missing piece of paper. There is no reasonable suspicion that more than 20 students stole a single item and something of that nature is not critical enough to justify searching
that many students. To date, the administration has refused to acknowledge its missteps in this incident. This district can easily implement other means of investigating vape alarms and the students involved prior to searching students.
This can include simple use of one's senses to see if a student is showing signs of vape use. Send the students to the nurse for a vitals check. Narrow your field of suspects before violating the rights of innocent students. Finally, I would like to speak directly
to the parents and students. Parents, know that your children, excuse me, address the board. You know the policies. You dress the board president. >> I am speaking to the board president and I am referring to the students and parents so that they can hear me. I know
you're quick on that little trigger there to shut me down, but I have the rights just like everybody else. Talk to the attorney if I have the right to speak right now. >> You addressed this in May when you updated this policy. We did address it and it's not being followed. Now, would you like to ask any other questions or
may I finish my time? >> Please finish. I apologize for interrupting you. >> Parents, know that your children have rights. Demand that those rights are respected. You are your child's first line of defense. Students, practice using these
two phrases. I do not consent to a search and please call my parents before taking any action. These words matter. They protect your rights and your dignity. Students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse
door. The school cannot claim to teach citizenship and responsibility while ignoring student rights. It is past time to write these wrongs. I'm asking this board and administration to begin to respect the law and the policy in place and the rights of the students and
notify the parents via email what changes will be implemented. Thank you. Any other comments on action items? My name is Bruce Davidson and I'm a resident of Ritton Township and I come before you to congratulate
the new members of the board and and look forward to your performance and the performance of the board with all of you. >> Mr. Davidson, >> together. >> Mr. Davidson, I'm sorry, but this is for action items. This section is for action items only. There'll be a second um
board comments. So, do you have any comments on the action items or would you come back to the podium during the second? Um >> I would, but I thought one of the action items we just had was an election of new board members. >> That wasformational. It wasn't an action item, but thank you.
>> I stand corrected. Thank you. Any other public comments on action items? Okay, I will close public comment and we will move on to organizational items. So, I would like to move items 1 through
8, items H1 through 8, um, which all need to be voted on. And then item H9 will just be for um for information. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Are there any comments or questions on
items H1 through 8? >> Yes, I I will when we get there. Yeah. So on item H4, I do have a few comments. Um this is the board meeting dates. Um, so I I would entertain a motion, if
anyone would like to make one, to um transition the board retreat that's scheduled for January 12th to a committee of the whole meeting, um, which we will be having in the IMC instead of here. Um, and I'd also like to propose that we include a budget
retreat um sometime in late February or early March for the board to spend some additional time looking at the budget. Um, I would propose that we combine the May 8th and June 15th meetings because they are so close after the April 27th
meeting and that may um the June 15th meeting is when we celebrate our students and our staff and we really want to have that early enough that everyone comes. Um, and I'd also like to propose a a full board retreat on the
30th and 31st of May um for us to do the superintendent review, the board review um and set goals for the next the following year. >> Are we taking discussion on that? >> So, um I think I would like a little
more information as to your thought process in going to a committee of a whole for January 12th. Um, and then the other thing is I have to recuse myself from board president or superintendent review, but I definitely want to be part
of district and goals. So, I will definitely not agree to a board retreat that compiles all three. Um, so I guess the first the committee of the whole is we have an awful lot of new board members and having our first committee meetings as a committee of the
whole allows everyone to get a good understanding of what all the committees do. Um, and >> so you're anticipating that committees will be decided by January 12th. >> Committees will be assigned today >> without input from anybody on their interests. Um, well, I've I reached out
to everyone on the board and offered to have conversations about reorganization and I have not heard back from everyone. >> You just simply asked if we would like to talk about or reorganization. It said nothing about do you have any interest in particular committees. >> I did not know that I had to be
specific. >> Also just add that we you didn't indicate that you would be board president either. So I how would we know it's who what we were talking about? >> You made big assumptions.
>> I I your other question about the board retreat. Um we can certainly schedule the discussion of the superintendent review to be at a time where you are not at that retreat. It is not it it would be paced and there would be an agenda
the way that any other board meeting would be and you could e we would either start the meeting with that or end the meeting with that so that you wouldn't be inconvenienced. >> I guess I just need to ask because I'm confused is how could you have emailed before tonight with the intention of
knowing you were going to be board president? I'm just confused. I'm I'm not really sure that that's a discussion that I'm going to engage in right now. But >> why not? You made an assumption that you were going to take this role. You
indicated saying let's have a reorg conversation, not let's talk about where your interests are in committees. So >> one sentence email, >> my discussion or my intention to have a discussion with anyone that I would have
a discussion with me was to express my interest in being board president and to ask people what they thought the organization of the board should be moving forward. Some people chose to engage in those discussions and some people chose not to.
You did not indicate what your interest was in that email. It literally said, "Would you like to meet to discuss the reorganization meeting?" Period. Not what are your thoughts about moving forward? >> Are there any other comments? recall
that um maybe not last year 202 2025 but uh when Cain Fowler was um I guess about to be president he actually reached out to me and when he reached out to me he didn't say hey I want to be president it was only until we actually had a cup of
coffee and a conversation so I just assume that I shouldn't say assume that um someone who wants to be president of the board can reach out to all the members of the board and have a conversation. >> I don't disagree, but I believe the
email was received on Friday. >> I would also just add that again, it wasn't indicated that that was what she was looking for. Didn't say that. >> Again, we're being surprised at the
table. Are there any other comments on the action items? >> Can you um Sorry, it was a lot of dates. The May 18th and June 15th you are suggesting to combine. Correct.
>> Correct. If if Miss Kangelosi Hay is immunable to that, >> right? And then there's a two-day you had May 30th and May 31st. >> Correct. And the subject matter on those two dates is purely her review.
>> No, it would be her review. It would be our board internal review. It would be um goal setting for the following year. Um and then as as we've done in the past, that is an agenda that will be built with the committees. So, as of right now, I would plan for it to be two
days um because that's what it's it's been in the past. Um, if there's education the board wants to have, if there are other topics that the board wants to discuss, those would all be on the agenda and that agenda will be built going forward. >> I am one person and I do not expect
everybody to change because of me, but in full transparency, I may not be available that weekend. So, I'm just or those two dates, I forget when they fall on. I just happen to know the 30th and the 31st. I have a prior. >> We will certainly work to make sure that everybody is available, but that is the
weekend after Labor Day. It's not Labor Day weekend. >> Yeah, like I said, I'm just being transparent. >> I I'll be transparent, too. I won't I just looked. It's my daughter's national gymnastics meet in Tennessee, so I won't be here either. So, >> I would I would probably table this
portion of it and float some dates around before because we're not going to probably approve it the way it is because of the I mean, you know, right? We're not I don't know what my dates are like availability. So maybe that portion of it we just tease out.
>> We can certainly talk about what days would work for a board retreat. Again, I I know that the intention is to have it at that time of year for two reasons. One, because we'll have all of the information from the strategic planning. Um, and two, because we want to make sure to complete Miss Kangelo Zihad's
um, review on time as well as be able to give the administration um, goals moving forward so that they can work on them over the summer. So, um, we are somewhat constrained in when that board retreat can be, but we will certainly work to find days that work for as many board
members as possible. The other thing is I would just say with regard to committee assignments since you did not indicate what your intentions were with the email that I would recommend getting people's feedback on that before you just
arbitrarily assign things. >> Any other comments? Could I just make a clarification for next because next Monday is a week from now. So I want to make sure we're prepared for it. So we had a retreat originally scheduled which is similar to what we did last year. Um and we have
our New Jersey School Boards Association rep planned to come in to talk about the role of the board member. Um I think we can also incorporate a committee of the whole kind of structure. Traditionally, we haven't had committee meetings in January because there's so many meetings already and there's usually the agenda,
the action items are not that full. Um, so I think we can incorporate that, but I just want to make sure we we'll still do you still want to do the retreat portion as well. >> Um, with the New Jersey school boards, I I believe that's necessary, correct?
Yeah. Yeah. Okay, good. Thank you. Can I just So when we go to vote, are we voting for what's right here or are we voting for the proposition? >> So I was going to say I believe what we need what what I need I need a motion
that will amend um item H4, the board schedule to transition January 12th to a committee of the whole meeting in the IMC. Um, do we do we want to wait on the budget retreat and the the dates for everything
else? Okay. And then do would you like to pick a should we pick a date to combine the May and June meeting? >> Okay. So, um the the the motion will consist of um amending item H4 to convert the January 12th meeting to a
committee of the whole held in the IMC and to find a date to combine the May 18th and June 15th meeting. Um, so I'd like to motion the change for H4
um to transition the um January 12th meeting from a retreat to a committee as a whole and that would be held in the IMC to wait on um to um find a date for the May 18th and June 15th combined to be a to be instead of having two
meetings to have one. >> Do I have a second? Second. >> Are there any other um items on H1 through H8 that anyone would like to discuss? >> I don't think there are designations in
eight. 8 is just establishing the board committees >> for seven. Yes. for the designations for representatives. Um for the New Jersey School Board Association, Marisella Wallace will be the representative and the alternative will be Reverend
Williams. Um for the Hunter and County School Boards Association, um Miss Bryce will be the uh designate with the alternate being Miss Lacasta. Um and then for the 10 central foundation which is not on the agenda um
Miss Gong will be the designate and I will be the alternate. The parent engagement committee um Miss Bryce will be the representative and the alternate will be Dr. Halpern and for Hunan County Polytech uh Reverend Williams will be
the designate with the alternate being Ms. Rothell. And I I guess also for item eight, we need to um discuss adding an ad hoc committee for strategic planning to coordinate with New Jersey school
boards. I mean, is that something that anyone would like to discuss? Because I I believe that that's what our agreement with. >> Yeah. Our contract um with New Jersey School Boards Association lays out uh like a strategic planning team. It doesn't say committee. It uses the word
team, but just that our NJSBA folks will work with the team. um they specify superintendent, board president, business administrator and whomever else just to plan for the sessions. We have dates picked already as you know um but
to plan you know how sending out invites what will be covered in that first session in the state of schools that kind of a thing. Would the board like to appoint an official committee or create an official committee or are we comfortable with Miss Gangelosi Hay um
coordinating leading that coordination? >> I I believe the contract states that there should be board members involved in that. So I think we're bound to that. So then I I believe we also need to amend item H8 to add a strategic
planning ad hoc committee. >> Do you know how many board members have to be a part of the strategic planning team? >> I don't. So I'm just curious. >> Are you talking like there's no mandate for it? There's no requirement. The contract that we have with them, I
think, specifies board president and maybe vice president. I need to look at it, but it then it's it's kind of up to the board to decide. So, would someone be willing to make a motion to amend item H8 to um add a
strategic planning ad hoc committee? I motion to add to H8 a strategic planning ad hoc committee. Okay. Do I have a second? Second. >> Okay. So, >> so can I just ask are you are you also
doing number nine? >> I'm going to appoint them after we vote because there's no vote on the committees. Number it number nine is just for >> All right. So >> I mean this is getting kind of conf >> No, I I agree. So
just to review and I apologize I'm losing my voice at a very in inopportune time. So organizational item one will be voted on as written. Organizational item H2, the checking account signatures will be
voted on as written. Organizational item H3, official newspapers will be voted on as written. Organizational item H4 will be voted on as amended by um Mrs. Dr. Halpern.
Organizational item five will be voted on as written. Organizational item six will be voted on as written. Representative appointments I just read out. and organizational item 8 will be um
voted on as amended by Dr. Halpern. >> Mrs. Bryce, >> yes. >> Miss Gong, >> yes. >> Dr. Halpern, >> yes. >> Miss Lacosta, >> apologies. Um, one through three.
Yes. Four, no. Five, six, seven, yes. And um, eight no.
Miss Rothell. Uh, one through four. Yes. >> I apologize. One, two, three, four. I didn't >> One, two, three, four. Yes. >> Thank you. >> Uh, five and six. Yes.
Seven and eight and nine. No. >> Mrs. Santangelo. >> Okay. So, this is very confusing to be honest. Um, so I'm going to say yes for one through three,
four, no, five and six, yes. Seven and eight, no. Miss Wallace, >> yes. Reverend Williams, >> yes. >> And Mrs. Kellogg,
>> yes. A majority on all motions pass. So uh on item eight or item 9 H9 committee assignments for the student life and program committee Dr. Halpern will be the chair. Um and Maris Stella Wallace and Nicole
Bryce will be the members for operations and transportation. Vernon Williams will be the chair and Dr. Halpern and Miss Laccasta will be the members. For personnel, Sandra Gong will be the chair and Miss Santangelo and Mrs.
Wallace will be the members. And on policy, Miss Bryce will be the chair and Miss Rothell and Reverend Williams will be on that committee. On the negotiations ad hoc committee, Miss Gong will be the chair and Miss
Laccasta and Reverend Williams will be on that committee. For the student discipline ad hoc committee, Mrs. Wallace will be the chair and Miss Rothell and Dr. Halpern will serve on that committee. And on the strategic planning ad hoc committee, I will be the
chair and Miss Gong and Miss Santangelo will serve on that committee. >> Can you repeat personnel, please? personnel is Miss Gong as the chair and Miss Santangelo and Miss Wallace as the committee
>> and D I'm sorry would you just repeat um the members for the third ad hoc committee the strategic planning >> strategic planning will I will be the chair and Miss Gong and Miss Santangelo will be on that committee. and Mrs. Spitzer. So
>> you have Mrs. Wallace on three committees, >> possibly. Yes. >> And um Mrs. Spitzer, I have it printed out. I will hand it to you after the meeting. Yeah. Um so now we're moving on to our next residence forum.
This is for items that are not on the agenda. >> I'm sorry. I have to make a comment. I'm not sure I can actually serve on the student discipline committee. >> Again, surprise table. >> I was going to say you can you can certainly decline that assignment. >> If I'm not on a committee, I will not
approve any of this. Well, you >> if Jessica Rothel is not going to be on a committee, then I will also reject my assignment. >> Miss Rothell is on the policy committee. Um, so the ad hoc student discipline
committee meeting or committee which I believe is met. >> So, you know what? Why don't you why don't you read them over because this is the first time we're hearing this. So, why don't you go over it again so we make sure we get it right. >> Okay. Um, all right. So, student life and program, Dr. Halpern is the chair
and Miss Wallace and Miss Bryce are serving on that committee. Operations and transportation, Reverend Williams is the chair. Dr. Halpern and Miss Laccasta are serving on that that committee. For personnel, Miss Gong is
the chair and Miss Santangelo and Miss Wallace are serving on that committee. for policy. Miss Bryce is the chair and Miss Rothell and Reverend Williams will serve on that committee. Do you need me to go over the ad hoc committees again?
>> For negotiations, Sandra Gong will be the um the chair. Miss Lacasta and Reverend Williams will serve on that committee for the student discipline ad hoc committee. Miss Wallace will be the chair and Miss Rothell and Dr. Halpern will serve on
that committee and on strategic planning I will be the chair and Miss Gong and Miss Santangela will serve on that committee. >> So Jessica, which one were you concerned about? >> Um the committees are assigned by the board president and this is not a
discussion. So we can we can certainly have this discussion offline afterwards. >> Well, clearly it isn't a discussion because this is the first time we're hearing about it. So, I just want to make sure she's comfortable because no one has consulted. >> I will certainly have that conversation with her after the meeting. >> I don't think it's a conversation you
and I need to have. Ethically, I do not think I can stand on that committee. I need counsel and the president or the superintendent to confirm whether I'm ethically allowed to be on that committee. >> That will determine whether I feel comfortable or not. >> Would you like them to weigh in on that
now or would you Okay, Mr. Trent, do you feel comfortable offering a legal opinion at this meeting? >> I have relatives that are faculty, staff, and students in the building. I don't do superintendent review.
>> Anyone that is um related to you, obviously, that'd be an issue. It wouldn't necessarily be a per se violation. to the extent that you could potentially segregate it. I wouldn't know specifically what relatives you have, who they supervise, what the role is. Um, so I'd need more information to be able to give you a specific answer as
to whether there'd be a conflict or not. And again, this is done by by president um designation. It doesn't have to be at a public meeting. So, this can all be done separately and then we can address it. Okay. And we are now moving on to the
second residence forum. This is on any topic that anyone would like to share with us. So, general information. Um, Mr. Davidson, if you'd like to Mr. Davidson, if you'd like to uh make your comments,
now's the time. My comment was basically to congratulate the new members of the board and to hope that the newly constituted board will work well with the superintendent
to move on with um continuing to make Hun and Central the premier high school in the state which I believe in my opinion it and um to wish you all happy new year. Good evening members of the board and
presiding officer. My name is Chinme Kashup and I'm a res resident of Raritton Township. I'm a student here at 100 Central Regional High School. My interest in public policy has led me to look closely at our district's unique structure as a regional high school led
by five distinct K to8 districts. As we reorganized for 2026, I'm advocating for a comprehensive view of our future. A feasibility study for full K to2 re regionalization across our entire sending area including Readington, Clinton Township, Delaware Township, and
East Amwell. The timing is critical. Following the December 4th, 2025 Senate Education Committee hearings on bill S4861, it is clear that Trenton is moving toward mandated consolidation for smaller districts. From a policy
perspective, we face a choice. We can wait for state dictate a state dictated plan or we can take the lead by applying for the full year 2026 SR grant. Now we can initiate a voluntary multi-dist study. This allows
us to protect our local voice by ensuring that the five communities that already send their children to this school are the ones defining the terms of their own unification. Currently, students enter 100 central from five different K to8 systems with varying instructional standards. In in policy,
this creates educational silos. A K to2 regional district would eliminate these silos, providing vertical alignment across all feeder communities. This ensures that every student, regardless of their hometownship, meets the same benchmarks and receives seamless preparation for the rigor of this high
school. Finally, this is about long-term fiscal stability. Merging the administrative operations and tax bases of our feeder districts with central creates a more stable local fair share calculation under the state's funding formula. The SR grant convert covers up
to 100% of the cost to study this. I asked the board to lead a joint application with our partner boards in the feeding feeder district. We should make 2026 the year we move from a collection of separate towns to a truly unified regional district. Thank you.
Sandra D'vor, Rariten Township. I'm here tonight to follow up on concerns previously raised regarding the political advertisement that appeared in the marching band program. At an earlier meeting, a community member brought to the board's attention that the candidate sworn in tonight, including Mrs. Bryce,
who is herself a member of the marching Red Devils Parent Band Association, purchased and placed a political advertisement in the band's official event program. As has already been stated, the ban the parent band association is a 501c3
organization, which means it is prohibited from engaging in political campaign activity or providing any appearance or of preferential access to candidates. Since that concern was raised, there has been no public response explan exclam explanation or
clarification from Mrs. Bryce, Ms. Wallace, or Mr. Williams. Given the seriousness of the issue, that silence is notable and concerning. When a candidate for this board is also a member of a booster organization, there is an increased obligation to avoid
conflicts of interest and to ensure that no insider access, real or perceived, is used in array in a way that benefits their campaign. Yet, in this case, the Slate's advertisement appeared in a nonprofit program that other candidates did not even know about. Regardless of
intent, the appearance of insider advantage is undeniable. It undermines public trust, places the booster organization in a compromising position, and raises questions about whether volunteer roles within our school community are being used appropriately during an election season. The community
deserves transparency. The band parents who volunteer deserve protection from unintended legal risk and the students deserve school affiliated organizations that remain neutral during elections as the law requires. This matter should not be ignored and I find it very
hypocritical of Mr. Williams who falsely called out Miss Santangelo about a lack of transparency and now the first time he is asked to speak on the issue he has no comment. Where's your transparency, Mr. Williams? A suggestion to avoid conflict of interest would be to add a
prohibition against campaigning to policy 9191. Regarding board leadership, Miss Kellogg should not be in a leadership position as someone who has an ethics complaint with probable cause. And the fact that she read the code of ethics tonight is
baffling. Let me let me let's not forget you presumed Becky Peterson guilty over and over again on far less. Public legal records show a stipulation of facts stating Mrs. Kellogg wanted to publicly humiliate Becky Peterson. She colluded with fellow board members in 2023 to
have Mrs. Peterson removed from the board based on an allegation from Maryanne Rampula. Mrs. Kellogg does not does not serve the district. she serves herself. Let's not forget her comment back in 2021 at a board meeting where she basically said the board needed to make the decisions for students
regarding COVID 19 um masking because parents were incapable of doing so. Of course, after that she was called out by a parent in the audience. She tried to apologize, but that comment has never been forgotten. Is this really doing better? Bryce, Wallace, and Williams ran
on that promise during their campaign. You've already broken your promise. I hope that's worth the $20,000 in donations. Thank you. Can everybody hear me? Okay. Hi, I'm Men Sloan uh municipality Raritton Township.
First, I want to congratulate the new members of the board and the new president and vice president um in getting sporned in today. Um I just wanted to say very quickly that I think there is a lot of I guess tension around
in this political climate and I just wanted to say that on the as you know like the student board of education I just wanted to ensure that whatever happens that the students interests are
protected and the fact that the board of education claims to try to protect the students emotionally, physically, mentally, intellectually. And I just wanted to say that I truly hope everyone stays committed to that and the statement of
the uh high school itself. Uh, I understand that it can be difficult doing so, but to know that all students are acknowledged and cared for and given
uh given their rights as people who are going into the real world in terms of college or trade schools or what have you that they are also acknowledged as like entities and of their own rights. Thank you. Hi, good evening. Uh, my name is Chad
Mau. Can I I don't know. I don't want to break this. Thanks. Uh, Reington Township White House Station. I have a child who graduated from Central in college right now. I've got another one who's a senior. Uh, just got accepted. a little while ago. So, we're very
excited. Um, I I wasn't planning on speaking here, so I'll try to be brief. Um, but this is the second time now that uh this has happened and and it just seems very disruptive. Um, but uh a lot
of allegations have been made recently and and that's really just what they are. They're they're allegations. It's being tried in in a public forum. Um and it's wholly within an individual's right to come up in the public comment here. Um
but it is disheartening and somewhat dispiriting when you uh when such allegations are are made. Um, with respect to the BPA association, um, I I I think there are very specific
rules in terms of what a 501c3 can and cannot do in terms of deliberately advocating for advertising for promoting candidates. And that's not what BPA did. There was no deliberate intent to raise one or at least uh uh nothing that's
been proven. And this isn't the forum to, you know, to try or prove or provide proof. That's not what this is about. Um, and so I would take those allegations as they've been made, which are with a grain of
salt. They are allegations. Um, to you, you've got a lawyer here who's fully able to answer those questions. I'm sure the BPA is fully able to answer those and the law as written in 501c3 is fully able to speak to what can and cannot be
done by these organizations uh or for this organization. So I would encourage the board to keep that in mind. And I'm sure you you have you all seem fully capable folks. Um and to be cognizant of um when when individuals like myself
come up and you know to to take what I say and what others before me say um not as fact necessarily but you know trust but verify do your own due diligence. Um, try not to be guided by the pitchforks and torches that are sure to
come at you for the uh for your term and and for the folks who follow you. Um, so again, I a little off the cuff here. I try to come a little more prepared in terms of actual policy discussions. Um, but I think that's there needs to be
some balance when folks come gunning for people on the uh the board. So, thank you. Anyone else? Then I will close public comment. Um I guess is there any additional board business to be discussed tonight?
additional board business or I guess going forward. Um the policy committee uh I would really like that policy committee to take a look at our board meeting agendas now
and uh reconsider board comments. I uh just wanted to comment on our student who um and you all should have gotten the his information that he shared about the regionalization study and that was something that I was just discussing today with one of our sending district superintendent. So it is a
topic that um we plan on discussing when we have our sending district superintendent articulation meeting. uh there is a grant as he noted out there um to cover the feasibility study uh and it's due April 15th. So we do have some time. I just wanted to let you all know
that. And typically um for those of you that are new to the board, we would handle that through because it's a grant item and that that's the section of the agenda that grants and grant approval would appear on. Thank you. >> Any other comments?
I guess I I would just like to raise one other topic for discussion. Um, up until this past year, we haven't had the board attorney at the table um in the time that I've been on the board. And I don't believe that the board has ever
discussed um having the board attorney at the table. And and what I guess in the past we've had um you know virtual attendance in executive sessions as opposed to incurring the cost of having an attorney sitting at the table. So not
not to uh talk about you while you're sitting there. I apologize. But I am curious if um that should go to a committee to discuss or if there are any if we would like to have a discussion about that. >> Uh indeed what committee would that go
to uh for discussion? >> Probably operations and transportation, right? Because it's a cost and a contract. I think it might be worth having a conversation whether it's at this time or at a different time as a whole um but
just to learn more about the different perspectives that people have about it. Certainly the cost could be less obviously having bringing in a lawyer when we need one um or during executive committee but I would I'd be interested in hearing the various opinions if there
are any ver various opinions about the pros and cons of doing it beyond beyond the financial cost of it which clearly so I would agree with Ellen on that. So perhaps we can put that on the agenda for the committee of the whole under for
next week. >> Yeah. As a discussion item. >> As a discussion. >> Okay. Okay. And I do know and not to speak for Lisa, but I know when we first met with Kyle and we talked about having him come to meetings, we did have an ultimate goal that maybe we can ease off of having him come to every meeting. Um
but there was a need at the time there was some some things going on that you know felt better having him here. So I think it's a great discussion to have next week. And I think the reason why we had him is because of all the accusations and factchecking. So it was
a lot easier to have him at the table to address those issues. And I anticipate that's still going to happen. >> Well, with that, we're going to turn it over to you and get some ethics training. Did you send out the
>> What is everyone's preference? Would you rather stay on the stage or would you rather go sit? >> Yeah, last year they did on the stage. >> Yeah, we'll stay just so everyone knows what I'm doing right now. I'm going to send the presentation to our board so that you have it so you can bring it up on your
device and then I will go down and get everything set up so Kyle can present. >> And the public is more than welcome to stay for the ethics training, but there will be no board action following this. So, it it's up to you if you'd like to stay.
Actually, Miss Kangelosi Hay, the new members don't have access to their emails yet, so I think we need to move down to the into the audience. >> Thank you. testing. >> Can you hear me? Okay. Down there.
>> Okay. Tim, I don't connect this way anymore. >> Okay, Epson. Here we No, no, no. >> Here, just type. >> Do I have it? >> Projection. See, this is a new laptop and I don't
know if they application's running. >> I agree. Allow >> the All right. I know you guys probably want to go home, so we'll jump right into it. I speak very quickly. I will try to keep
it slow. If I'm going too quick, slow me down. uh if you have questions during during the process, my suggestion is general questions address here. If anyone has like a specific question about them, that's something to address an executive or go through the proper channels which we'll talk about. Um but
that's kind of the intent. Uh general disclaimer for that and for the members of the public that are not board members, uh the information being provided here is is for educational and discussion purposes only. if um uh it may or may not be applicable to specific
situations. With the law, there are always depends and and nuances and differences. So, if you have a specific issue, always go through the proper channels to get specific legal advice on that issue rather than remembering that we might have spoken about something generally at the um uh training session
um to ensure that you're getting the advice applicable to your specific situation. Um, so for the new members, some of you existing members will have gone through multiple levels of New Jersey School Boards Association training. Uh, you're probably sick of it. I've sat through
that thing probably three dozen times. Um, uh, I don't know if you're having school boards come in and give that specific training uh, yourselves, but regardless, this is intended to kind of be the overview. It's going to overlap with that because some of this stuff you need to know as new board members to avoid issues uh, early on. But the the
heart of school ethics comes from the school ethics act uh 18A12-21 uh which was enacted in order to ensure and preserve public confidence uh and in an effort to ensure public confidence in the um governance of school boards and
the operation of individual board members. Uh there are a few different components to the school ethics act. Uh with respect to the ones that are most important to you and really the heart of it you have three separate issues. You have the prohibited conduct which is set
forth in 18A12-24. Those are your conflict of interest provisions. You have the code of ethics which you all received a copy of today and signed off of but we'll talk a little bit more of substance of it about later on. And then you have a more recent um uh issue which is annual
training requirement that it now is required of all school scoreboard schoolboard members annually uh through the New Jersey school boards association. That's a relatively uh recent change. Uh and then within that additionally you have your financial disclosure statements uh which are very
important uh for those existing board members that have followed this for a while. I I can't even envision what kind of misconduct a board member would have to engage in to have uh the squatics commission order them to be removed. Uh but failing to file your financial disclosure statement will get you yanked
off the board very quickly. So make sure you you do that. Um uh the prohibited conduct, conflict of interest is important and we'll talk about the the basis for it. But the reason why it's important is because if there's any, uh conflict that a board member has,
there's a need to recuse not only from uh participating necessarily sitting up here and hearing the discussion, but which would be an abstension, you know, uh but actually recusing exiting yourself from the discussion itself. uh because the mere presence of
a board member during tainted quoteunquote tainted discussion can result in that action being avoided. And that comes from a uh common law uh conflict of interest case, friends retirement concepts versus the Somerville board of education from now
more than than 20 years ago uh where a board president and I believe it was the vice president were uh high up members of the local uh little league group. Uh and the board was uh being pressured by the little league group to pass a a
large um construction project to build a field that would primarily benefit that organization. Uh the board member, the one board member, the president was I believe the president of the organization and then the wife of either the president or the vice president was also uh the person that ran like the
concession stand for that organization. Uh so the ties were were pretty um uh deep. the board discussed whether whether this is something the board should do. Uh the board member that had this relationship with the organization right before voting recognized, you know, we have a conflict of interest, so
we're not going to vote on this. Uh nonetheless, a a local retirement uh organization uh was dissatisfied when the board approved that, went to superior court, filed a lawsuit, and the superior court ultimately ordered that that um construction project had to be
overturned. the board uh could not approve it in the manner it did because of the mere presence of those conflicted individuals being uh at the table while this was being discussed. The concern is other board members might not have been frank with with the discussion knowing
that that this person had a very strong incentive in uh one outcome or another and the fact that they were there even to hear the conversation would um taint the process so to speak such that the conflict would would void it. So an abstension is when a board member sits
at the deis determines that they don't have enough information about a topic for example you say I abstain your vote doesn't count um it's neither an affirmative nor a negative uh vote there's quorum issues that again we we'll deal with if it comes up uh but that's different from a recusal where the recusal you're saying I am not
participating in this or being present in this discussion whatsoever because I have a conflict of interest and therefore I'm separating myself from that um code ethics we'll talk about a little bit more. And again, the training requirement is is annual for board members now. So, make sure you I think
the Heather probably is is keeping track of what deadlines you have. Um, but be on top of it to make sure you're not scrambling. I had a board member in another district who didn't bother running for reelection. Uh, didn't bother completing his his training until
December. And then the email I got, he's the board president. Do I have to complete the training? The answer is yes. The that's required for you to do this. What the ramifications for someone that's not running for the board are, I don't know, but but the answer is the law requires you to do it. You should do it. You waited until the 12th month. That doesn't mean you you get out of
doing it now. I don't know whether he actually did it or not, though. All right. Uh so, prohibited conduct. Uh we're going to run through the the various violations um to ensure that that board members are aware of when they need to be recusing themselves. Uh
the first of them is the business interest or professional activity in conflict provision. This is subsection A of the uh 18A12-24. Uh and in this under this provision uh no school official which includes a board member or his or her immediate
family shall have an interest in a business organization or engage in any business transaction or professional activity which is in substantial conflict with the proper discharge of his or her duties. uh immediate family member uh definition is important that is only applying to your spouse or a
dependent child that is residing in the same house as you. So if you have a a cousin that is not a that um you know is doing business with the board that is not a um immediate family member for purposes of this and same thing uh definition of an interest in a business
organization is limited to those that control 10% of the profits profits assets or stock of the business at issue. Um, I'm always always advise extreme caution if you have a a family member that's doing business with the
board uh to make sure that the superintendent and the board president are aware of that so that we can vet it um properly to ensure this. Um, if you don't have any any relatives doing uh business with the board, then that's not really a major concern for you obviously.
Uh, the second provision of conflict of interest is the unwarranted privileges, advantages or employment provision. Uh, under this provision, no school official, again that includes a board member, shall use or attempt to use his official position to secure unwarranted privileges, advantages, or employment
for himself, members of his immediate family, or others. Uh, this is the the one that is um, how do I say it? Most problematic for for a lot of board members because of that others provision. Others is an undefined term. It could be literally anyone. If you have a childhood friend that you're very
very close with, uh, that could be another. the cousin would be another. Uh your neighbor, if you have a close relationship with the neighbor, uh again that would be another. So the board members are almost forced to to really be aware of what is on the agenda, what their relationship is with with people um that might be up for employment,
might be up for um any type of of thing that could be viewed as as a uh privilege or benefit to them. Uh the key there though again is unwarranted privilege and again this requires a lot of fact specific uh knowledge. Um you know what is an unwarranted privilege
versus not. What is a person earned versus not? Again it's always safest is if you have that relationship to recuse yourself to avoid any uh allegation that you're acting in in favor of an individual based on your relationship with that individual rather than um you
know the merits of that candidate or the recommendation of the superintendent. Uh number letter C uh in 18A12-24 financial dealings that may impair objectivity uh no school official shall act in official capacity in any any
manner where he a member of his immediate family or business organization in which he has an interest uh has a director or indirect financial involvement that might reasonably be expected to impair his objectivity or independence of judgment. So again, this one is applying only to the board member, the immediate immediate family
or a business that they have that 10% interest in, whether it's the board member or the immediate family uh member. Uh and again, this is a a direct or indirect financial involvement that might be reasonably expected in impair. So you're looking at some sort of financial benefit that the board member
or the immediate family member or the business organization is getting based on the action that the board member is is acting upon. So again, if you're not have don't have any family members doing business with the board, it's not really a concern. But if you do, you need to really be careful and make sure you're
you're fully vetting that to avoid any any conflict that could come up. Uh the personal in involvement with benefit is uh the next subsection of 18A12-24. uh no school official shall act in an official capacity where he or a member of his immediate family has a personal
involvement that is or creates some benefit to the school official or the immediate family member. So personal involvement again kind of goes to that relationship type um thing. This isn't necessarily a financial benefit but it is some benefit that exists uh to the
person. And um uh again, it's a a vague kind of a catch-all uh allowing u you know you to provide maybe you know a a favorable volunteer position, favorable treatment to um uh another
family member or yourself um that that you know involves you personally. So where I see this again this is kind of like that friend's retirement community case that we were talking about. There was no necessarily financial involvement for the board president who solely was a member of the leadership of the
organization. Arguably maybe there wasn't a financial involvement to the extent that the uh relative worked in the uh concession stand if there was some kickback or some payment they were getting. But regardless of that, the financial involvement wasn't necessary. It was the personal involvement based on the deep
ties between the board member and that organization that resulted in the conflict of interest in that particular case. Uh next subsection employment or service that may prejudice judgment. Uh again same type of thing uh where if the board
member has undertaken any type of service or employment um that might reasonably be expected again it goes towards what kind of relationship the board member has with the the board or with the organization that's doing business with the board. Uh again,
it's not only a matter of of a service itself, but it needs to be sufficient that a reasonable member of the public would look at that relationship that exists, whether it's a a employment relationship or some sort of volunteer service, etc., uh and determine that this person's independence of judgment
is going to be impacted by that relationship. And again, same thing. I keep going back to friends retirement community because I love the case but you know that board member's uh independence of judgment reasonably could not be viewed pursuant to the judge's determination and as the public
would view it uh of whether they were putting forth the best interest of the board of education or the best interest of the organization that they also were a member of uh being the little league. Uh gifts with intent to influence. there's a prohibition on any board
member soliciting or accepting anything of value based on the understanding that its purpose is influencing uh them in some official duties. That doesn't mean you can't receive any any Christmas gifts. Um it's got to be some tie that there is a intent of purpose of
influencing. So if you've had a friend uh who gives you a Christmas gift every year, gift basket, whatever for the past 10 years, same thing happens when you're a board member, I don't think you have any any concern with that. But if you have a a friend who suddenly is applying for a position on the board and they've got a gift basket for you, that's a
problem and you need to to decline to accept the gift in that circumstance. Um the one thing this does not apply to is announced candidates for office. Um you can still solicit campaign donations. You still have the the same rights as any other individual running for the election. uh and there's a carveout for
that again with the exception of if there's a um uh you know reason to believe that this was done to influence the the school official in discharging their duties. And I'm sure you're all aware of the um attorney general's investigation of a not a schoolboard attorney, but another attorney in this
state who um uh would uh at least allegedly um you know provide donations sometimes in unmarked paper bags as I understand it to elected officials with the understanding that that he would then have his firm appointed as the tax attorney or whatever position it was.
clearly a problem for that attorney and I believe there's criminal issues that are still pursuing that but also a problem for the people soliciting it not only in the criminal realm but that would also fall under an ethics issue although I suppose you've got a lot bigger problems than just the school ethics act if if you engage in anything
like that um use of the position or information for financial gain uh we'll talk about a little bit more of the confidentiality requirements of uh board members under the code of ethics in a little bit I know you you uh had it read to you by the board president earlier. Uh but
beyond even the requirement that the confidentiality um things be kept confidential when you receive it, there's also a specific conflict of interest provision prohibiting you from using any type of information not generally available to the public uh for your own financial
gain or or benefit. Uh this would be the type of situation of, you know, the board talking about purchasing property or or something that might impact the value of other neighboring property. You can't use the information you get as a board member to say, "I'm going to go and buy those neighboring properties because I know the value is now going to
go up as a result of um uh the board doing whatever whatever it um uh might be doing." Oh, and just another uh note for this provision um this regards business organizations for which a board member
is associated not only those which a board member has the interest in. So the earlier provisions we talked about those were only applying to um business organizations where the the board member or the immediate family member had 10% or more controlling stake. This one goes beyond even that. It could be less than
10% controlling stake. Theoretically, it could be 0% controlling stake, but you being employed by that organization or or whatnot. So, just bear that in mind. It's a technicality, but it's an important nuance. Um, if you find yourself in that rep that realm, uh, another prohibition on representations
in matters before the board. Uh, this one does not come up a lot. I had this issue in another district a number of years ago involving a board member who was also an attorney. Uh, and the board member who was also an attorney um, wanted to provide not necessarily
client relation type type relationship with um uh with clients, but wanted to essentially volunteer to help parents of special ed students in the district um while they had issues with the district regarding special education cases and
that would would square fall would fall squarely uh within this. When you're a board member, it means you can't be representing adverse interest to the board before it. Uh there were various conflict of interest issues that came up from there. Whether you're an attorney or not, if if you have a friend in the district who's, you know, now has a
parent uh or friend of the district who's a parent that has a child who has some dispute with the district, you shouldn't be serving as an advocate for that person, you're a board member. Um and if you receive anything like that, the proper course, like we'll talk about a little bit more, is referring them to the administration. Go through the
proper chain of command. uh the more conversations you have about a particular issue, the more likely you're you're essentially conflicting yourself out uh where you wouldn't be able to participate in discussion because of that personal involvement. So if you have a parent that that is coming to you wants to to share their concerns about a
particular case, the more information you know at that level, the more conversations you're having with them uh directly, the more potential ramifications you're having for participating it in the future. So my recommendation is when they come to you with that sometimes it's difficult because it may be a friend that you've
had for for a long period of time you cut them off right there and because of that you know the I can't help you individually I can certainly direct you to the proper person whether it's at the superintendent level or or lower um that's the proper course for you to go through and then it will make its way
before the board if I have this conversation with you I certainly will have to recuse myself from the discussion and I assume you don't want that to be the the the case by coming to Um, again, there may be other reasons why you have to recuse yourself anyway if you have that personal involvement, but cutting it off early is is by far
the best approach to avoid headaches later on. And the the one carve out again with respect to that is you still have the right to represent yourself and your own family members. So if you have a child who is classified, if you have a child who was suspended, you have a child
dealing with any issues, you still have the right to represent yourself. it's representation of other people that causes the uh potential problems. Um there are two exceptions from the conflict of interest provisions that we uh spoke about. Uh the first one is the
the voting uh matters material gain exception. No school official shall be deemed to be in conflict if by reason of his participation in any matter required to be voted upon. uh comes with no uh essentially essentially no materially or monetary gain and there is no other um
reason to believe that they have a particular uh gain or interest in the particular matter being voted upon. Uh so long as the benefit that could be construed is no greater than the benefit that could be reasonably expected to be accured by any other uh member of that particular
organization uh profession, occupation or group. So, um, again, it's not one that comes up pretty pretty regularly, but if you have, you know, something that you're you're talking about a profession in general that's before the board, um, you know, that might benefit you indirectly, again, I I don't really
foresee this coming up in in any foreseeable or likely way. Um, but this carveout would potentially give you the the ability to vote in other matters that are somewhat problematic. Um and then this is the one that I just uh meant being that self self-representation still is allowed
with respect to matters uh involving the board member uh or their immediately family members own personal interests. Uh that takes us to the code of ethics for board members. Um so you you were
given a copy of this obviously earlier. Um I think it's it's helpful since some of these are are relatively vague. They just talk about them a little bit in more depth and uh what's less well advertised than the uh code of ethics itself is um the rule that the school
ethics commission has actually adopted with respect to these and that is 6a28-6.4 for and what the school ethics commission has done in this particular area uh code of ethics alone is given the the example of what evidence would be required to pursue an ethics
complaint with respect to any of these alleged violations. So, for example, when we're talking about uh provision A regarding upholding and enforcing all law laws, rules, and regulations, uh according to the Squics Commission, uh in order to to establish a violation, uh
the complaint uh and factual evidence that's presented uh through the complaint would need to include a copy of an actual final decision from a court of law or an administrative agency uh specifically demonstrating that the the board member failed to enforce specific
laws, rules, regulations uh etc. and or a specific court order um uh specifying what specific violation has has occurred um or specific evidence that the the board member has brought about changes through illegal or
unethical uh procedures. So this one I think is important. The this came up a lot during uh COVID with the the mask mandates etc. uh and there was a lot of um you know I don't want to say threats but discussion bandied about what what's required to be um you know proven in
order to establish a violation of this provision and essentially as the squalics commission has laid out their rules there would need to be a a judicial finding of some sort of violation whether it's it's municipal court um uh specifying what the exact violation is before this commission is
likely to act upon something uh of that nature. Uh with respect to provision B uh your requirement that a board member will make decisions in terms of the education welfare uh of children, educational welfare of children and will seek to develop maintain public schools that
meet the individual needs of all children regardless of protected categories or social standing. Um here what the commission has has made clear is that in order to provide a a prove a violation of this provision, there needs to be a demonstration of of willful conduct by by the board member. uh
intentional type conduct to violate this. Um and again um my my view of the school ethics commission is not the the strongest. Um I don't hold them in the highest regard because um unfortunately there's a lot of uh focus that I think is in the wrong areas. Again, same type
of thing. Financial disclosures versus um you know, ethics ethics complaints. I I can't think of a single case where the school ethics commission has actually removed a board member. Um the the most notable case where they they did something significant was a board member
who was specifically told not to attend a uh trip to I believe it was Arizona paid for by a potential vendor from the board ignoring that direction from the superintendent going on that paid trip coming back getting caught. Um uh despite that pretty clear violation they
ended up suspending him from from the board for a period of time and that was the the extent of the the penalty that was imposed. So unfortunately, it seems to me that the Squathics Commission is more typically now used for political attacks from one side versus the other to to prove, you know, points to say,
"Look, there was a Squics complaint filed against against them." Um uh rather than, you know, really substantively addressing hard-hitting stuff. Um but even here, again, I highlight that they've put the bar pretty high in terms of proving a violation here. you need to show willful
violation of this, a willful disregard for um you know, a decision contrary to the educational welfare of the children to to prevail and being able to to demonstrate something um in violation of prong B. Uh with respect to uh prong C,
uh I will confine my board action to policym planning and appraisal and I will help to frame policies and and plans only after the board has consulted those who will be affected uh by them. Uh again this is talking about the board's role and I'll talk about this a little bit more outside the context of the code of ethics in in a few minutes.
Um but again your your role as a as a board is individually with the exception of the president uh you have no individual power. You are are a body that that acts as a collective. Uh it's the board majority or in some limited circumstances where statutes require
things even higher than a majority um that vote and have the ability to take action. uh as an individual you have no no individual rights. Um you have since say individual you have no individual power. Um uh you have to do it collectively through uh the will of the
majority via via votes at public meetings. >> Sorry I have a quick question. I don't mean to derail, but you just made a comment that um there are scenarios where more than the majority is required. >> Yeah. So there's there's um uh probably
about a dozen statutes that that impose requirements for specific votes that are higher than a majority of the board. Um uh there are mostly those are in the the realm of like bonding and and specific very very nuanced things. Uh the New Jersey School Boards Association has a
really nice cheat sheet. It's like 12 pages long that that summarizes all the various um statutory votes. So the default for for board action is majority of those board members present. Um majority of the board members present would allow you to take whatever action
uh you want. But then there are specific statutes that say in order to I don't know the exact know certain bond actions require a twoth3 majority vote of of the uh the full board. So not even just those members. There's certain things that you can't act upon if if there, you
know, so twothirds majority of this board would be six of the nine members. Uh five members would would constitute a quorum. You could have certain things that even if every board member voted in favor of it at a board meeting, it still would not be enacted into law. They're they're not your typical things, but
they're there are there. If you're interested, again, you can do just a search for New Jersey School Board Association, uh, voting requirement cheat sheet or whatnot, or I'll happily provide it to you. >> Thank you. >> No problem. >> Yep. Um,
uh, with respect to subsection D, uh, the carry out the responsibility not to administer the skulls, uh, but together with my fellow board members to see that they're they're wellrun. Uh again, so this the the biggest issue I I see that that runs into violations of this is the
the board member who is overly familiar with with SC personnel um walking around whether they're at a sporting event or whatnot and just because they don't think anything of it, they they give like a direction to some subordinate to the superintendent. You know, you see a
custodian that that that just happens to be there, there is a you know, spill around the corner. Frankly, any any common decent person would give the the custodian a heads up, but you have to be even more careful as a board member doing that because you have can be
viewed as having authority um as a board member and the perception of the custodian, you know, hearing someone that just off the street, oh, there's a spill around it will handle it in in a normal course. Whereas if that direction or that that concern is being raised by the board member to the custodian
directly um you know can come with with the view of uh you know this is a direction of me and my role as a board member. You have to do what I what I say. The spill one probably isn't the best example because there's obviously liability issues there and whatnot. So if you see a spill, you probably should
still tell someone, but the ideal scenario would be telling telling the superintendent because it's the superintendent that has all of the um you know authority so to speak in terms of directing staff. You again collectively as a board ensure that the district is wellrun. But in terms of any
direct order to school personnel um that is something that that flows through the superintendent rather coming than coming from the board as a whole or or certainly any individual uh board member. So my my advice and again it's tough because a lot of you very well may
have relationship with teachers that your kids had or have or whatnot but to the greatest extent possible you need to be very careful with with the way those conversations or relationships continue because you're now a board member and you're not just a general member of the public. Um, I have had board members
that that I know engage in these types of thing because they they say, "Well, this is the same way I would have, you know, treated my relationship with with um, you know, so and so before it was a board member. I've known him for 20 years. I've known her for 20 years." Uh, and that's all good and fine, but you put yourself at risk in
having those conversations in official capacity about board board related duties. Again, that doesn't mean you can't socialize with people that you've been friendly with and whatnot, but when you're talking about those board duties, anything that could be construed as as you giving like an order or directive to that person uh runs runs a high risk of
um uh being found as a violation of this provision. Um same thing in terms of of day-to-day administration of the school. Um again, board members, you know, have the same rights as parents to to come and engage and whatnot. Um, but administering the school is the role of
the administration rather than than the school district. So if there are concerns, there's a proper chain of command to to bring that up. In terms of the board, your your point of contact in almost all scenario should be the superintendent. Um, when you have a concern, rather than trying to direct it
or get getting involved in it, you go to the superintendent to uh avoid the the risk of a ethics complaint regarding that. uh subsection E uh same type of type of thing personal promises um you know you can't make personal promises uh
as an individual uh you don't have that authority as as an individual to act on behalf of the board uh or to speak on behalf of the board and we'll talk a little about personal statements and and uh disclaimers in a little bit um but you just need to be careful same type of
of thing there uh subsection F I will refuse to surrender my independent judgment to special interest or partisan political groups or to use the skulls for personal gain or for the gain of friends. Um the partisan political group one I I've seen there's a number of of ethics complaints that have alleged that
that board members are representing partisan uh political groups. The the commission again has taken a pretty narrow uh view of this. uh there needs to be a recognizable kind of organized group that you're acting on behalf of in
order for it to um be recognized as as you running a foul of this particular uh provision. It needs to be essentially like a political party or cause that exists. And then again, this comes back to that friends retirement community type analysis um where are are you
likely to be viewed as acting because you believe or the public would believe you're acting at the best interest of the the district or acting at the best interest of uh this group which you may be affiliated with. Um uh so again it runs kind of kind of
parallel to the conflict provisions we talked about previously. Uh G has two prongs to it. There's the confidentiality provision and then there's the accurate information provision. I'm not sure why they didn't just separate these two, but it is it's treated as two separate um uh provisions
within G. So with respect to the confidentiality provision in order to prove a violation here uh the individual would have to show that the board member took action to make public reveal or disclose information that was not public under any laws, regulations or court orders of the state or information that
was under otherwise confidential in accordance with those policies, procedures or practices. So the guidance itself doesn't provide you a whole lot of uh um help in terms of what they're looking for. But uh the takeaway is that there are are a few different concerns
with respect to confidential information. Uh we talked about earlier the the benefit prong where you could have an actual conflict uh of interest regarding that. Um there are ethics issues and then there's board liability in general issues. If you are
releasing confidential information, whether it's attorney client advice, whether it is uh matters that fall under the deliberative process privilege, we'll talk about in a little bit. Um or information about individual students, etc. Um you put the the board in a precarious position. So you have your
individual liability obviously under the Squathics Act. theor theoretically I I suppose you could have individual liability beyond that through like a negligence type action as an individual if a board member you know has confidential information and I'll I'll bring it back to like the purchase of
property. Uh I had another board that um uh sold their um uh stadium to the municipality uh number of years ago and obviously there were a whole lot of discussions about that what the the proper price is etc. Uh, as a board member, you may be privy to executive
session discussions about what the board is valuing, what the board might um, you know, deem appropriate as a sale price for that particular property. If you as a board member then release that information publicly when you shouldn't have, that could impact the ability of the board to negotiate, you know, the
best price it can in the best interest of the taxpayers. That would violate uh, you know, this vi this provision specifically. There are other ramifications. Again, like I said, individual liability beyond just the Squath X act itself. So, you need to be really careful with with the confidential information that you have.
You might not even think anything of it. Um uh but if it's information that is non-public that you are releasing publicly, you have the provision here that you you run a foul of, you have the potential impact on the board as a whole and its bargaining power and other
interests uh that you you could create issues for. And um uh it's it's obviously just not good. Uh the key though obviously is that this is confidential information. There is also information that you may obtain as a board member including during executive
that isn't necessarily confidential. It's already public information but is information that you're just being presented because it's part of a broader discussion. for for example, if that information is already public, then the fact that you learned about it during an executive session is not going to
prohibit you from discussing it. Um it's only that information that is non-public that confidentiality would apply to. Uh the inaccurate information prong of subsection G uh again is kind of a broad one. Board members are required to
provide accurate information uh in terms of what they're what they're reporting to to the public. So if if you know the board is discussing something perhaps here and um you know you then take that information and you go to you know
channel 5 news or whatever to relay what what was discussed you're required again subject to the the caveats we'll talk about a little bit in disclaimers uh to provide information that's accurate. If you're providing information that's inaccurate you run a foul of the Squathex Act just by that fact in in and
of itself. uh subsection 8, you you're will vote to appoint the best qualified personnel after consideration of the recommendation of the chief administrative officer. Uh so there's a heightened standard under the score laws in general where uh again any
recommendation for hiring has to come through the superintendent. A board member doesn't have the ability to make that recommendation. Uh sub uh subservient staff member below the superintendent doesn't have that authority. It's the superintendent that makes those recommendations. um it's the the superintendent that's vetting the
candidates. Again, she may delegate authority to her subordinates in terms of making recommendations to her, but ultimately she's the one that that is responsible for that recommendation. The board and the board is then required to act upon that um uh and can only
deny cannot deny the superintendent's recommendation for what's called arbitrary, capriccious or unreasonable reasons. you have to have a valid basis in the area of personnel to reject a recommendation of the superintendent. Uh it's the the most nuanced where uh the
superintendent's recommendation is given to heightened standard of there being some legitimate basis as ultimately would be recognized I suppose by the commissioner of education if there was some sort of dispute about this um as to why the board rejected a recommendation. That doesn't mean the
board can't reject the recommendation of the superintendent, but has to be able to articulate why it's doing so. Um, so you always have to be careful in those areas. And again, this is the one where I see the most issues with conflict of interest where board member may know the
the candidate outside of of their role as a board member, etc. Um, so again, you know, in that realm, I I would again caution run it by the board president, uh, run it by the superintendent, depending on what it is, so that that you have those potential conflicts vetted in advance before they come. I I
have never had a client, knock on wood, um, you know, engage in this. But the way it theoretically could play out would be if you if you have a board and and superintendent who are at odds with each other, um, there are cases where where the superintendent of districts have filed actions against the board. um
you know challenging board action and and it's the the last thing anyone wants to be involved in obviously. So um uh do your leg work uh upfront rather than you know costing the district dollars later on and costing costing everyone a whole lot of heartache
um subsection I uh I'll support and protect school personnel and proper performance of the duties. And I think this one is pretty pretty self-evident. Kind of relates back. You shouldn't be directing board uh personnel to do things individually. Uh your role is to uh
support the these staff. Um in order to to prove a violation here, again though, the commission's going to require uh proof of of quote deliberate action that resulted in undermining, opposing, compromising, or harming school personnel on the proper performance of their duties. So again, the commission
has built in a a deliberate element to this requiring, you know, proof that this was something the board member intentionally did. It wasn't reckless. It wasn't just uh sloppy action by the board. It was you deliberately intending to undermine, oppose, compromise, or
harm uh the skull per personnel. Uh so again, high high standard for a violation. Um and then finally, uh J, uh this kind of just reiterates what I've talked about in other provisions. Any complaints that you're receiving as as a board member should be referred to the
proper um authority, which is the chief school administrator, so that it can be properly vetted and make its way up. Uh much like the the grievance procedure, which new board members will will learn about, there's a a chain of command, so to speak, in the way that things
operate. um and they typically involve dissatisfied staff members presenting the grievance to the lowest person that can address that issue. So it might be a supervisor, then a principal, then the superintendent, then the board of ed, and then that same type of provision
exists for uh quote unquote parent or student agreements is the parent or the student presents at the lowest level and makes its way up the chain of command of the superintendent and then to the board. So Kyle, just going back to uh Jay. So
just looking at the language. So I will refer all complaints to the in our case the superintendent >> and we'll act on the complaints at public meetings. So am I saying I'm acting on the complaint at a board meeting or I'm acting on a complaint that comes up at a public meeting?
>> So uh so I guess twofold to that. So you you're act you as a board can only act at a public meeting. So to the extent that there is going to be board action, it would have to be at at a public meeting. In terms of um uh you know acting on complaints at public meetings,
again it it depends on on how the the matter is presented to the board. So theoretically you could have complaints that you know the board hears about for the first time that that weren't addressed at the administrative level for whatever reason. uh and if it makes its way to the board level and the board
is satisfied that the administrative solution was not available or not properly followed then the board again as a whole body could vote upon that and and address it and discuss it at that public meeting if that makes sense. Uh so school ethics commission in
general I won't go into great detail. It's nine nine member body uh they receive complaints which can be vi can be filed by anyone alleging a violation of the act. Uh it has to be filed by an individual can't be filed by or organization. Uh complaint cannot be
filed by the board of education as a body. Um there's some level of uh what would I call it? Uh flux in terms of um uh ethics complaints initiated by boards of education. Currently uh there was historically case law uh from the
scholics commission commissioner of education standing for the proposition that the board could vote and authorize or direct whether it be the superintendent or uh board president an individual acting on behalf of the board directing them to go and file a
complaint with the school ethics uh commission. Uh there was a case last year coming out of Berkeley Heights which is still ongoing I suppose um where the school ethics commission uh took issue with that. There's some language in there that that is subject to interpretation has left us in kind of
a gray area in terms of what the proper role for the board to do in there. What they did say unequivocally was uh in the Berkeley Heights case, the the board uh authorized the board president to file an ethics complaint utilizing the board attorney as like the prosecutor to
litigate the the complaint on behalf of the board. And the school ethics commission concluded that that portion of it would be a conflict for anyone voting in favor of that because the the person filing the complaint is then getting a personal benefit in litigating this issue. um you know on behalf of the
board slash on behalf of the individual board member uh and it was viewed as a a a benefit to that board member. Uh the commissioner has not yet ruled uh as of last week when I looked last uh the commissioner has not ruled on the Berkeley Heights case. Um there were exceptions filed to the schools
commission uh decision. Uh it's one of the very rare cases where the um Association of School Attorneys, of which I'm a member, uh did go ahead and and file what's called an amicus brief to put forward its opinion on what the proper role of this is. Uh so I just put
this out there for everyone's sake here. I hope that the board is never in a position where it has to be discussing an ethics complaint against one of its own. But to the extent that that comes up, hopefully we'll have more guidance from the commissioner uh in the coming weeks or months on on what the proper
recourse and where the the limits are, I I suspect that even beyond the commissioner, that case is one that's likely to go up on the to the appellet division. uh regardless of which side wins before the commissioner. uh which again I think would would provide some benefit because to some extent the Berkeley Heights case you know
transformed um the way many school boards were operating or understood the law to be previously uh but did come down unequivocally uh against what what was being done um I wouldn't say routinely but but the understood
practice of that which is why it it was such a um uh I don't want to say controversial but significant case that that is going to still require some more um adjustments uh as we as we uh learn how the commissioner and then the courts
come down on what was done and concluded there. Um way ethics complaints are filed once they are are submitted to the school ethics commission. The first thing they're going to do is is make a probable cause determination. Uh that doesn't go to the merits of the case.
you could have a a probable cause determination uh made even if the the case is likely to ultimately um be lost uh because the probable deter probable cause determination is just made based on the facts as they are alleged by the person. So if the person puts in the in
the complaint that these are the facts that's what the squathics commission is is considering at that point in time to allow the case to proceed. those facts may be may be false and after a hearing um you know be proven wrong. Uh but the probable cause determination is just the
the first step so to speak in allowing the case to move forward. If the commission looks at a case and I had a good one uh very simple so I didn't lay this out. So with respect to the conflict provisions that we talked about earlier uh those apply to school officials which is not only school board
members but it's also certain school uh administrators. it's your superintendent, it's your BA, and it's any school uh personnel that has like hiring recommendation authority uh power. So, uh there's there's that provision uh the prohibited prohibited
conduct provisions and then there's also the code of ethics which applies only to schoolboard members. I have another client who had a uh squathics complaint filed against an assistant superintendent. Um and the complaintant is a uh call him a longtime rabble
rouser. It's a former district employee uh who was let go in a riff and he's still dissatisfied. He he he and his mother come to every board meeting now complaining that the board should rehire him. It's all sorts of litigation. but he was upset that the uh assistant superintendent didn't uh didn't schedule
him for an interview when there was some job posting. And his course in in trying to address this was I'm going to file a school ethics complaint against the the um the assistant superintendent. And he filed the ethics complaint in uh you know prosay on his own. um didn't have
an attorney involved, which made it seem like the assistant superintendent was a board member and then alleged that the the assistant superintendent violated those code of conduct provisions that we we talked about earlier that only apply to board members. So, the school ethics commission got this. They presumably
would have, you know, issued a probable cause determination if it was a board member, but it wasn't a board member. It was it was allegations of violations that don't apply to administrators. So, it didn't make it to the probable cause of the determination and the case was dismissed before it got that far. Um, to
weed out things like that, things that that are, you know, clearly legally insufficient on their face, there's no need for a hearing. There's no need for anything beyond just a a, you know, legal brief establishing why the case should be uh dismissed. If after a
probable cause determination is made and a hearing is um held uh and the squatics commission receives a recommendation from an administrative law judge who would have conducted the hearing uh that there was a violation. There are a few different uh penalties that can be
opposed against a board member. The most common is a a reprimand, which is just the the Squathics Commission saying you did something bad, you shouldn't have, and we're going to issue this decision that anyone can Google and pull off the commissioner, sorry, the Squathics Commission website that says so and so,
you know, violated the Squathics Act and and should be reprimanded for that. The next step up from that is what's called a censure where again you get that same decision, that same uh provision saying that that the board member did something wrong. But beyond
that, we're also the commission is also going to require the board as a body to read into uh its minutes via a resolution a recognition that the board member did something uh wrong. So, not only is it going to be on the school ethics commission website, it's also
going to have to be physically uh addressed during a um school ethics uh sorry, during a board meeting reflecting what the school ethics commission uh found. Less common, very uncommon, frankly, is the suspension of board members. Um,
again, this this one is one that bothers me because uh, you know, the the board members obviously being punished because they can't participate during meetings during the suspension, but really the board is being punished as a body because now you have one less member. You can't fill that that empty seat. Um, you just have then eight members that
are um, you know, going to to be able to do everything for for that. It creates all sorts of of issues. So, yes, it's embarrassing to be suspended, but you know, it hurts the board just as much. So, please don't do anything that gets you suspended. Uh, and then ultimately you you could have the Squathics
Commission remove someone. I I can't even envision what it would take, frankly, to have the Squadex Commission remove someone based on on this except failing to file your financial disclosures. That gets gets board members yanked very quickly. Uh separate from that uh I also wanted to reference
uh again you know with respect to schoolics complaints or any complaint that might be filed against you as as a board member uh unfortunately it's it's becoming more common in my experience where people will file superior court lawsuits and they name everyone under
the sun. So it's it's you know so and so versus 100 central regional board of education and superintendent you always get named lucky you. uh and maybe a principal or a vice principal and then board members too. Even even if the board member had no like direct role in it, just the fact that you are a board
member um will get you unfortunately named in lawsuits. And thankfully under under the law uh there is a provision that requires the board to indemnify and hold you harmless for any action taken uh based on any alleged act or omission arising out of or in the course of your
performance as a board member. So, if you get named in a lawsuit solely because you're a board member related to something the board did, uh, you know, again, I see this most common with like employment lawsuits, uh, employment lawsuit against a a uh, schoolboard as the employer, the, you know,
superintendent for allegedly a aiding in abetting since again, it's those recommendations from the superintendent that are precursor to any of that. But whether it's filing tenure charges or terminating the contract of a non-tenured staff member, um you may be named in that lawsuit as well and you'll
be indemnified. Same thing applies with respect to the Squathics Act. So if you have a Squathics complaint uh made against you um arising out of and in the course of the performance of the duties as a board member, then you're you're going to be subject indemnification. Uh
this board has a pretty robust insurance policy uh that kind of mirrors this. So the first analysis would be done by the insurance company but regardless of whether the insurer provides coverage or not because there's various reasons that an insurer might not provide coverage lack of notice etc entirely uh separate
from that the board is the one that's ultimately legally responsible for indemnification and the board would have to make that determination uh as to whether whether there's um uh indemnification obligation or not and if there's a dispute about that it would then go to the commissioner of education who interprets the school laws to make
that call. Uh you can also request that the uh school ethics commission provide what's called an advisory opinion. Uh they will only do so about proposed conduct. So you can't ask them for an advisory opinion about things that have already taken place. Um so it's kind of a pain frankly in trying to to get
advisory opinions in a timely enough manner to address issues um beforehand, but it is an option that's available. So um uh if if something comes up again you know vet it through the process we'll talk about in in a in a second to see
whether that or as an individual you can request the school ethics commission to do that at any point. The school ethics commission can make those uh advisory opinions public. They do so without identifying what the school district is or who the the person is. But they provide a nice um uh um body of law,
body of decisions that can be used to to determine where the school ethics commission would fall on an issue before before it comes down um to kind of provide guidance on what you should um uh do. And I've talked about the financial disclosure statement several
times because they are are the uh the thing that the commission acts most quickly and most most robustly upon. I won't go through the details of it, but you have to make sure you get your your financial disclosures in every year by April 30th. And I I believe Heather will
be certainly keeping you um apprised of when your deadlines are >> I have a question about the Yeah. It's it's very similar to an income tax thing to it's >> it yes. So
>> 100% regardless. Um so if it's like employment any income you get whether it's through a specific job or you know seminar you might conduct elsewhere you should be disclosing it if it falls within the um uh the the $2,000 uh income threshold.
Um, and then again, remember it's not just yourself, it's also your immediate family. Um, so it's a pain and it's annoying and frankly, you know, um, uh, >> I just want to make sure. >> Yes. Yeah. Yep. No problem. Uh, and then gifts. GIFs also have to be reported in there. Same same type of uh, analysis,
but the the form does walk you through relatively nicely. It's Yes. Um uh so we talked about a little bit but the just to remember and clarify you know the the superintendent is the chief school administrator um and principal adviser to the board. Uh the board's role is to
consider recommendations and ensure that the district's well-run uh and it's certainly required to give due consideration of um such recommendations. That doesn't mean that the board is a rubber stamp for the superintendent's recommendations. the board still has uh you know independent thought process um and and ultimately
you know decides upon things in the board's best judgment based on the information that's available to it again with the heightened standard for personnel action where you can't reject it for anything um I can't withhold it for for arbitrary and capricious reasons
and and creates its own issues um but complaints or disputes need to be resolved initially uh through the administrative process rather than the boards So again, if you're getting individual complaints to you because people know your board members, run it through the proper channels to save
everyone a lot of heartache and and again potentially forcing yourself to recuse yourself from the matter entirely because of your personal involvement in that particular uh matter. Um now while you as a board and a body
collectively vote and can take action uh individual board members do still have you know their own individual free speech rights. Um but you have to be careful when speaking about matters that involve the board that you are are not doing so in a way that could be
construed as you speaking uh in an official capacity or on behalf of the board. Um, this is again one of the the the most common squatics complaints that I see. Um, and the test that that's going to be applied is whether a reasonable person could perceive that the school official is speaking in his
or her official capacity or pursuant to uh the official duties. Um, the content of the the speech is really the key to this analysis. The school ethics commission has provided a disclaimer that it recommends be be used in these types of uh circumstances, but it does
so with the caveat that the disclaimer is not a a you know golden ticket to uh allow you to say whatever you want. If even if you include the disclaimer, if you do so in a way that the content suggests that you're speaking on behalf of the board, um you're still going to
run a foul of of this. Um, social media is is the the biggest place. I I shouldn't say that because it seems to be more particularly you guys have have a lot of like opinion articles. It seems like there's a lot of news attention that that has uh been there. In other districts, it seems like social media is
where they get jammed up much more common and Facebook things. Um uh you know again you can make statements to the media, you can make statements on social media, but you need to do so while making clear that you're doing so as an individual expressing your
individual views and not in the role as a board member or speaking on behalf of the board. And the biggest the biggest jam up um that I've seen board members get in trouble with within the last few years on social media is is Facebook pages that are identifying themselves as
board members. So Joe Smith 10 and Central Regional Board of Education, anything you put on there, the commission is constring as if you are speaking on behalf of uh the board, even if you're including the the disclaimers. They've been very aggressive on that. So
my my recommendation to you would be avoid using a Facebook page that has you identified as the board of education member at the top. Um just do it as as an individual capacity. Um uh or to avoid posting that type of thing. What some people in other districts have been
doing is having like two different two different pages. They have their their Joe Smith central regional board of education page where they are are not posting things that are statements on their own behalf or on behalf of the board. They might be, you know, linking
calendar events like things that are going on in the district. That that's fine. Uh and then if they want to make personal statements about their views, they're doing it on a page that is just Joe Smith at the top. uh to disconnect and avoid any uh concern about the the public being confused about whether
you're on behalf of the board of ed or whether you're doing so uh purely as an individual. Um as a board generally most things are discussed in public. There are a number of of things that can be uh discussed in
executive session. Uh I won't go through all of them because I'm sure you guys are tired at this point, but I will highlight the the biggest ones of those. Uh those are student matters which falls under the specific exceptions for um things provided for confidentiality under the law. So anything specific to
to students would be discussed in executive not out here. Uh collective bargaining negotiations uh anything related to potential negotiations with your with your unions or the the process of bargaining. uh that would go into executive uh attorney client privilege
communications. Um anything that that the the board is seeking advice from the attorney on uh would be done in there. I know sometimes the the default is well let's ask the attorney uh during um you know public and the board as a whole could decide to do that. I always
caution you though because there are times that I'm going to give you advice that you might not agree with and if I've given that advice in public uh and then you proceed with that, you've kind of flagged for for people, you know, potential challenges to it and issues that that could um be made. So, you're you're generally much better off getting
that advice in um uh close session before um getting it out here. Uh same type of thing uh with respect to like anticipated litigation. um you know discussion about that could have a adverse impact on that litigation uh which is why it takes place in enclosed
and then the other big one that um uh boards generally see is personnel matters. Um there's a specific procedure that needs to be followed to discuss those things enclosed. Has to give what's called a rice notice to the employee so that the employee has the ability to make a determination whether
they want that discussed in public uh or kept private in there. U if it's a matter involving multiple employees, then the entire body of people that could be infected have to request that it be in public uh rather than in private. But um uh that's more
of an administrative role. um than the uh something that gets done at the board level in terms of the notices that need to to be provided. Um again, we've talked about this. The board has discretion in how it operates and acts. It does so primarily through adoption of policies by a majority vote of those
members uh that that um you know adopt that policy or or that determination. Uh the board can delegate authority and it has done so in some pretty significant areas. uh in terms of the legal advice or the role of the board attorney. For example, uh policy 174 authorizes the
superintendent, the school business administrator uh and the the board president as the uh proper channel for requesting legal advice or um soliciting legal advice on particular uh topics. Um you know, the topic of inviting the board attorney to to meetings came up
earlier. That's certainly discussion that that the board can have and you can certainly decide you don't want the board attorney here. Uh but if if you do decide that and then at some point in the future you want the board attorney here, then it'd be up to either the superintendent, the business administrator or the board president to invite the attorney there to provide the
advice. Um so if you as an individual board member thinks there's some issue that the the board needs advice on, your first recourse would be to go to one of those three people. If if for whatever reason the three of them individually each of those individuals says no there's no need for board attorney
advice on a particular topic then the board could could you can make a motion to um uh essentially you know seek a majority to request that the advice be obtained there. So again it's the majority of those board members present that have the authority to to take that
type of action. Um so default would be one of the authorized individuals or board action as a whole to um do it. And then you've talked a little bit about the committee structure versus the committee of the whole. Uh your your board act your board policy um you know and I think historically you've
generally operated by the committee structure which I will say most boards operate by. I have one board client right now that has operated by the the committee of the whole structure for at least the last sever several years. then co and all the craziness that that
surrounded that is what made them decide you know what we want to discuss everything in public it leads to lengthier meetings so there's obviously a pro or con and I will say even that board now that things have quieted down has been shifting more and more back towards a committee structure um where they're delegating more things to um
committee structures but that is entirely again within the purview of the board majority you decide how the board operates and um you know you could modify the policies at any point in time if you decide as a majority of the board that that things would operate better in a different uh different manner. Um I
was also asked about the deliberative process privilege because this is one that um I think is less less familiar to a lot of board members. Attorney client everyone everyone knows about the attorney client because in your personal dealings you may have had the misfortune of having to deal with attorneys previously and I I offer my express my
sorrow for you. The more you deal with attorneys uh the more sympathy you have for me. But um uh deliberative process privilege is something specific solely to government entities. And what the deliberative process privilege uh says is that school boards and other government entities um can withhold
certain draft documents. I shouldn't say certain draft any any draft document uh or any documents reflecting quote advisory opinions, recommendations and deliberations compromising part of a process by which government decisions and policies are formulated. uh and that
includes fact information when it was uh used in that deliberative process. That is is what's applying uh you know so to speak before it reaches the board level of discussion. You know these these are your your internal deliberations about what the board might want to put on an agenda you know at the committee level
so to speak. Um again it's discretionary. It's it's up to the board as to whether the board wants to assert a privilege of that nature. Um but again I I caution you that it's the board as a as a as a body that would be making those determinations um as to the way it
wants to to proceed in um things like the the the manner in which minutes are kept for committee meetings the the operations of the way committees um uh are structured etc. So the first level would be the committee at at at committee on its own to the extent that
authority has been delegated the committee to re run its own meetings and whatnot. But the board as a whole if it wants to to alter the way things are done um would be able to to vote to to change the policies and change that delegation of authority um if it deems
appropriate. Uh so that was my overview. I think we probably went longer than I anticipated, but I appreciate you listening to me. Hopefully, this provides a a decent framework to at least flag to you what issues you should be aware of so that if something does come up that you think, you know what, I
I may have a conflict here, I can go to the the board president or I can go to the superintendent or I go to the BA to ask for uh advice on this. And if if none of those people think that this is a a adequate concern, then you can address that that potential issue uh with the board as a whole to see whether
advice should be solicited on that particular topic. >> So Kyle, can I just ask a quick question? So regarding the committee of the whole, I would imagine that certain topics still cannot be discussed in public. Correct. >> So the same the same executive analysis
would apply. Um uh so the same ex same same analysis with regard to close session topics would apply whether it's a committee of a whole or the committee structure being utilized here currently. I will say in my experience um with the
the board that has operated by the committee of the whole one of the criticisms of that is that there's a lot of things that that aren't being discussed as indepth as they used to be when it was a committee structure because there are things that um you
know uh would either take an undue amount of time for example discussing every single personnel action with a body like that you're now talking about very very lengthy executive ative sessions rather than what I think would be more, you know, routine type appointments, you know,
non-controversial things that the committee could handle in a much more um uh cursory opportunity and and then you you also run into, you know, the issue of certain people like to talk a lot um which which has led to some very very lengthy meetings there. But yes, the
same the same confidentiality concerns would apply if you're in the committee of a whole structure perhaps to an even greater extent than the committee regular structure um because the committee doesn't have the same level of you know public uh um uh fireworks I
want to I would say uh than trying to engage in certain types of of things that the board might not even you know seriously be considering but you know a member of the public hears about it and suddenly jumps on it and becomes blown up into a a huge issue of something that the board really, you know, never would
have uh uh considered. I'll use this. This is public information. So, I'm the burrow attorney in the the burrow of Elwood Park. And uh the burrow ofwood park used to be East Patterson. And on our organization meeting on um Friday of last week, the um the mayor of Patterson
was there because, you know, nicities ease because we were electing new members and whatnot. And uh during his his comments, he made an off offhand joking comment about uh wanting to have some discussion about renaming Elmwood Park East Patterson again. Go back to the old name. And uh the mayor was very
quick to cut them off that that was not a discussion that was was in the cards because even the mere suggestion like something of that was on the table would have resulted in 500 people at our next meeting uh outraged at the the idea. It wasn't something that was even remotely. It was a glib glib remark and a joke by
the mayor of Patterson, but it very very quickly could have uh spiraled into, you know, public comment after public comment because unfortunately members of the public will hear certain snippets and think that these are legitimate things that are being considered and then you're you're sitting here for three hours listening to one person
after another uh complain about things that were never even remotely uh being contemplated. So, so Kyla, you have offered a lot of um advice in 2025. You know, we would get emails from Lisa and so is there
ever a time when we can, you know, take that information whether you're certainly if it's not attorney client, we wouldn't, but if it were whatever personal or privileged and confidential, do we share that with the public? >> The the board as a whole would make that determination. So if if there's some
advice that you want to be shared with the public that that was obtained from the attorney, then the board as a whole certainly could do so, but as an individual, you shouldn't be making that that call. And yeah. >> Yeah. So my my um default would be so
the board president has the ability to speak on behalf of the board obviously. Um there could be some discussion of that. Ultimately, I I I say a vote would be the the safest course, having a formal motion. I I move that the uh board
direct that the attorney, you know, it's easy if it's like a a a memo. You know, if you ask for a memo to be drafted laying out, you know, is there a conflict concern here? Um a vote by the board as a whole to release that memo to the public. Uh and then the board would
vote and if a majority want that memo released, they would do so. If you're talking about like verbal advice provided in executive session, you could do the same type of thing. It would just be, you know, we vote that the the board attorney address this to um the uh the public uh you know, to explain why we
did something or what what what occurred, if that makes sense. >> I'd say it's a gray area. I I'd want to take it on a on a case-byase basis. Um, the board president has the authority certainly to solicit advice. The safer course would be for the the board majority to do it rather than the board
president unilaterally um because you run the risk of jamming yourself up. But I I wouldn't say that there's never a scenario where the board president be able to do it. But but the the default I would recommend would generally be uh board majority vote >> for sure. Yeah.
Nothing else. >> One last question here. So if something comes to the board um whether it's someone uh you know writing in an email or standing up or somehow sending in a you know a missile across our heads
about something >> and a board member has actually received something from this person who is complaining about something not being settled or solved. So long as that board
member says, "Hey, I got something from this person." So just so you know, for transparency sake, that makes everything all right. >> So again, this this comes into the the depends. So if I understand correctly, you're saying a a parent sends an email
to you complaining about I'll use an example because I I had this one not that long ago. um you know complaining about a hip determination that was made involving their child and and that that member of the public I don't think they sent it to every member of the the board they they sent it to like a handful of board members that I think they thought
would be most sympathetic to um their their course and and what that that uh member of the public wanted to do in that instance was a meeting with the the board president and the board vice president to address their their concerns about this particular HIP case.
um putting aside any relationship you that board members might have with them. Uh if the board president and vice president, other members that received this simply said, you know, thank you for for alerting your concerns. There's a process to go this through this. You know, I'm sending it to the
superintendent. Once it makes its way to the board level, you'll have the opportunity to address it with the board. I don't see any any issue issue with that. If the board president and vice president said, "Sure, let's meet and talk about this and discuss what your concerns are." And they met with that that person uh that parent uh and
obtained the concerns, you know, heard the concerns out, had a discussion with it. The more discussion you have with that, the more you have, from my perspective, a personal involvement with with that matter. Now you've become personally in in uh engaged with that
particular um issue and and run the risk of of a claim that there's a conflict of interest with you then participating in the discussion at the board level because you've already been involved in it. You've already you've already heard the information. You may now, you know, take that information that you've received that the full board did not
receive and have that impact the way you're making your uh decision on whether to affirm or reject that HIPP case or whatever whatever the the complaint. >> In this particular case, the board has to make a vote. So, if this board member receives something from the person who's
making the complaint, that board member should at least say, "Hey, I have a relationship with this particular person." I mean if if they have a relationship. Yes. I mean you you as a board member have to be doing a constant analysis on frankly every item that makes its way
onto the agenda agenda of whether I I have a conflict of interest with respect to this. So u with respect to the personal involvement conflict that we talked about um which is subsection D I believe C. Uh subsection C. Um,
again, this this has the the some benefit uh prong to to uh that. So, if we're talking solely about the the personal benefit conflict, um there's got to be some benefit to the school official or immediate family member here. But the mere involvement and knowledge of that, you know, could be
viewed as tainting the process um uh because of the knowledge you received or the involvement you had or or you know, again, frankly, there's other issues why you might not want to get involved with that because you're now turning yourself into a witness, too. Um where let's let's assume that, you know, you receive
an email from that parent talking about the uh disagreement they have with the particular HI determination. You now meet with that parent. Okay, it goes before the board. Even if you recuse yourself from that, you don't participate because you say, "Yeah, I'm too personally involved. I can't be
objective with respect to this." Um, now if if the board ultimately votes one way or the other, and that individual um, you know, either files an appeal to the commissioner of education or files a lawsuit alleging discrimination or whatnot, you as a board member have now
created your you put yourself in a position where you're a potential witness to to the board action. You were involved in the discussions. you were involved in that. The last thing anyone in this room wants to be is deposed uh during litigation. Um so the safe course there is to to simply refer it and and
say I'm not going to have any more involvement in this until it reaches the level where the board as a whole discusses it. >> This also be you administering something that the school would if you as the president and vice president met with somebody about a hip separately. >> It depends on on what action you're
doing. So, I mean, again, if you're meeting on on something separately and then taking a step back, then I don't think there's an administrator in the school. If you meet with them and then go to the superintendent and say, "We don't like the way this was done. You need to do it differently." Then that certainly would be >> It seems like you'd be at kind of at
risk that way. >> You're always at risk, but you're at heightened risk. >> If you're meeting with them, you know, you're getting what they're telling you, right? So, it seems like like just risky. >> You're certainly putting yourself at greater risk. Yes. But more often that
>> Yeah, That that's my advice. My my advice is, you know, as soon as it's you see that they're going down the road of something that that may make its way to the board. You explain to them, you know, I appreciate your concerns. Maybe they are legitimate. There's a process that needs to be played out before it can reach the board level. If we're going to continue talking about this, I
I potentially going to be conflicted out and that's probably the last thing the person presenting this to you wants or they wouldn't be coming to you with this. So that's my advice of the way you can kind of disconnect yourself from that while trying not to burn bridges with friends, etc. you know, I hear you.
Sounds sounds significant. I don't want you to tell me anymore because I want to be able to to act upon it when when it makes its way to the board level. Yeah. That's all you got for me? Okay. Now, we'll go do a three-hour executive about.
>> All right. Thank you for for hearing me out. All right. Do I have a motion to adjourn the meeting? >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? I I
>> All right. Meeting adjourned.