Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 24, December 18, 2024
(a) A district
board of education shall be subject to action by the Commissioner, as part of
the budget approval process, upon the failure of one or more schools within the
school district to achieve the New Jersey Student Learning Standards as
evidenced by existing Statewide assessment methods or other statutory or
regulatory methods of evaluation.
(b) If the Commissioner deems progressive
actions would not be sufficient due to the magnitude of the failure and/or
other factors, the Commissioner shall take, pursuant to
N.J.S.A. 18A:7F-6.b, immediate corrective actions as
deemed appropriate, including, but not limited to:
1. Restructuring of curriculum or programs
consistent with the efficiency standards and the NJSLS;
2. Retraining or reassignment of staff and
the development and implementation of a formal plan for professional
development at the amount provided for in the efficiency standards;
3. Conducting a comprehensive budget
evaluation;
4. Redirecting
expenditures consistent with the NJSLS and the efficiency standards;
5. Enforcing spending at the full adequacy
budget consistent with the NJSLS and the efficiency standards;
6. Reviewing terms of future collective
bargaining agreements prior to final approval by the district board of
education and an assessment of the impact of the terms on the school district's
budget, education program, and the local property tax levy; and
7. Requiring a district board of education to
implement enhanced budget procedures, as deemed appropriate, as follows:
i. Consider revenue payable pursuant to the
School Funding Reform Act of 2008,
N.J.S.A. 18A:7F-43 through 71, and all other State,
local, and Federal revenue as revenue of the general fund, unless expressly
restricted by Federal law or written contract, for the purpose of implementing
the Commissioner's directives;
ii.
Record appropriations and expenditures by school for classroom instruction,
school-level technology, student support services, curriculum development,
educational media services and school library, professional development,
security, and school level administration. A district board of education may
require other types of expenditures, such as maintenance and custodial and
transportation, to be recorded by school;
iii. Obtain written Commissioner approval on
Commissioner-prescribed forms for school-level appropriation transfers
necessary during the year to effectuate the Commissioner's directives;
and
iv. Obtain written Commissioner
approval prior to appropriating for new purposes school-level appropriation
balances occurring during the year from salary breakage, unanticipated
circumstances, overestimated costs, or other events.
(1) Upon approval, a district board of
education may transfer, in accordance with
N.J.S.A. 18A:22-8.1, the appropriation balances
between schools or for districtwide purposes, except where prohibited by any
Federal law that restricts such transfers.
(2) A district board of education shall cause
any school-level appropriation balances remaining at the end of the year to
lapse and be commingled with the general fund balance of the school district,
except where prohibited by any Federal law that restricts commingling or
otherwise required by law or
regulation.
(c) The Commissioner will report any action
taken pursuant to
N.J.S.A. 18A:7F-6.b to the State Board within 30
days.
(d) A district board of
education may appeal any action(s) taken by the Commissioner pursuant to
N.J.S.A. 18A:7F-6.b to the Appellate Division of the
Superior Court, pursuant to
N.J.S.A. 18A:6-9.1.
(e) Nothing in this section shall be
construed to limit general or specific powers elsewhere conferred upon the
Commissioner pursuant to law.
