Sponsored by:
Senator STEVEN V. OROHO
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
SYNOPSIS
Provides certain sending school districts one representative with limited voting rights on receiving school district board of education.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Senate Education Committee on March 9, 2021, with amendments.
An Act concerning boards of education of school districts involved in sending-receiving relationships and amending and supplementing P.L.1995, c.8.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 2 of P.L.1995, c.8 (C.18A:38-8.2) is amended to read as follows:
2. A school district which is sending pupils to another school district pursuant to N.J.S.18A:38-8 shall have representation on the board of education of the receiving school district as follows:
a. (1) [If the pupils of the sending district comprise less than 10 percent of the total enrollment of the pupils in the grades of the receiving district in which the pupils of the sending district will be enrolled, the sending district shall have no representation on the receiving district board of education.] (Deleted by amendment, P.L. , c. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)
(2) If the pupils of the sending district comprise at least 10 percent of the total enrollment of the pupils in the grades of the receiving district in which the pupils of the sending district will be enrolled, the sending district shall have one representative on the receiving district board of education.
b. If the total number of pupils of two or more sending districts, which do not qualify for representation under subsection a. of this section, comprise at least 15 percent of the total enrollment of the pupils in the grades of the receiving district in which the pupils of the sending districts will be enrolled, they shall have collectively two representatives on the receiving district board of education. The annual designation of the representatives, in the event more than two districts collectively qualify under this subsection, shall be rotated among the boards of education of the sending districts according to a schedule determined by the joint agreement of the boards.
c. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections a. and b. of this section, the number of representatives designated by the sending districts to be additional members pursuant to this section shall not exceed three additional members on a receiving board with originally nine or more members, two additional members on a receiving board with originally seven or eight members, and one additional member on a receiving board with originally less than seven members. In the event that this restriction results in an unequal representation of sending districts, the annual designation of the representative or representatives shall be rotated among the boards of education of the sending districts according to a schedule determined by the joint agreement of the boards.
d. A representative of a sending district board of education shall be designated at the meeting of the board which is closest in time to the annual organizational meeting of the receiving district board of education and shall serve a one-year term beginning with the organizational meeting of the receiving district board. The representative shall be subject to the rules and procedures of the receiving district board of education.
e. The calculation of percentages required under this section shall be based on the number of pupils reported as of the last school day prior to October 16 of each prebudget year.
(cf: P.L.1996, c.138, s.65)
2. Section 3 of P.L.1995, c.8 (C.18A:38-8.3) is amended to read as follows:
3. The provisions of [this act] P.L.1995, c.8 (C.18A:38-8.1 et seq.) and P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall not apply to sending and receiving relationships which are established exclusively for the purposes of special education.
(cf: P.L.1995, c.8, s.3)
3. (New section) a. In addition to the members of the board of education of a Type I and Type II school district provided by law, in a school district which is receiving pupils from another district or districts pursuant to N.J.S.18A:38-8, there shall be additional members to represent the board of education of each sending district, except a sending district which has designated a board of education member of that district as an additional member of the receiving district’s board of education pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1995, c.8 (C.18A:38-8.2) or section 1 of P.L.1999, c.414 (C.18A:38-8.4). The representative shall be a member of the board of education of the sending district designated annually by the board of that district. The representative shall be a 1[nonvoting]1 member of the receiving district board of education 1with limited voting rights as described in section 1 of P.L.1995, c.8 (C.18A:38-8.1). In the event that the sending district representatives comprise a majority of the receiving district board of education, those sending districts whose student population makes up less than 10 percent of the overall student population shall have no vote1 and 1shall1 serve on the board of that district in an advisory role.
b. The representative of the sending district board of education shall be designated at the meeting of the board of that district which is closest in time to the annual organizational meeting of the receiving district board of education and shall serve a one-year term beginning with the organizational meeting of the receiving district board of education. The representative shall be subject to the rules and procedures of the receiving district board of education.
4. This act shall take effect immediately.