A1397

ASSEMBLY, No. 1397

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

By Assemblyman BAGGER

An Act concerning the sharing of certain personnel by school boards, amending various sections of the New Jersey Statutes and supplementing chapter 17 of the New Jersey Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. N.J.S. 18A:17-14.1 is amended to read as follows:

18A:17-14.1. A board or the boards of two or more districts may, under rules and regulations prescribed by the state board, appoint a school business administrator by a majority vote of all the members of the board, define his duties, which may include serving as secretary of one of the boards, and fix his salary, whenever the necessity for such appointment shall have been agreed to by the county superintendent of schools or the county superintendents of schools of the counties in which the districts are situate and approved by the commissioner and the state board. No school business administrator shall be appointed except in the manner provided in this section , except that when the boards of education of two or more school districts determine to share a school business administrator, the appointment shall be made pursuant to section 4 of P.L. , c. (C. )(now pending before the Legislature as this bill).

Nothing in this act shall prohibit a school district from subcontracting its school business administrator to another school district, in which case credit toward tenure acquisition shall accrue only in the primary district of employment.

(cf: N.J.S.18A:17-14.1)

2. N.J.S.18A:17-15 is amended to read as follows:

18A:17-15. The board of education of a Type I district and of any Type II district, now having or hereafter authorized to have a superintendent of schools, may, by contract appoint, for a term of not less than three nor more than five years and expiring July 1, a superintendent of schools by the recorded roll call majority vote of the full membership of the board.

A superintendent of schools may be appointed for a like term also in any other Type II district or in any other two or more Type II districts as follows:

Application for the establishment of the office of superintendent of schools for [the] a district or for two or more districts which determine to share a superintendent shall be made to the county superintendent of the county or the county superintendent of each of the counties in which such district or districts are situate and if said application is agreed to in writing by such county superintendent or county superintendents and shall be approved by the commissioner and the State board, the board of education of such a district so applying may appoint a superintendent of schools for a single district in the manner hereinbefore provided [or the commissioner shall appoint, subject to the approval of the State board, a superintendent of schools for two or more districts making such application and the State board shall apportion the expense of maintaining such a superintendent in more than one district equitably between the districts]or may appoint a superintendent for two or more districts in the manner provided by section 4 of P.L. , c. (C. )(now pending before the Legislature as this bill).

(cf: P.L.1991,c.267,s.1)

3. N.J.S. 18A:28-5 is amended to read as follows:

N.J.S. 18A:28-5. The services of all teaching staff members including all teachers, principals other than administrative principals, assistant principals, vice principals, assistant superintendents, and all school nurses including school nurse supervisors, head school nurses, chief school nurses, school nurse coordinators, and any other nurse performing school nursing services and such other employees as are in positions which require them to hold appropriate certificates issued by the board of examiners, serving in any school district or under any board of education, excepting those who are not the holders of proper certificates in full force and effect and school business administrators shared by two or more school districts, shall be under tenure during good behavior and efficiency and they shall not be dismissed or reduced in compensation except for inefficiency, incapacity, or conduct unbecoming such a teaching staff member or other just cause and then only in the manner prescribed by subarticle B of article 2 of chapter 6 of this Title, after employment in such district or by such board for:

(a) Three consecutive calendar years, or any shorter period which may be fixed by the employing board for such purpose; or

(b) Three consecutive academic years, together with employment at the beginning of the next succeeding academic year; or

(cf:P.L.1991,c.267,s.3)

4. (New section) The boards of education of two or more school districts may share a superintendent or a school business administrator, or both. A shared superintendent or business administrator shall be subject to the same rules governing eligibility for employment as are superintendents or business administrators of a single district. The decision to share a superintendent or business administrator shall be made jointly by the districts, subject to the final approval of the county superintendent or superintendents, as follows:

a. Should two or more districts, after careful study and ample opportunity for community input, decide to share a superintendent or school business administrator, the districts shall mutually prepare a report for submission to the county superintendent or county superintendents if the districts are in different counties. The report shall outline the anticipated advantages to the districts and the feasibility of a shared arrangement. The report shall set forth a plan explaining how the shared arrangement will operate, and shall also address such items as community support for the arrangement, effect on services to the respective districts, division of the business administrator’s or superintendent’s time between the districts, availability of administrative backup, likelihood of situations creating conflict of interest, and financial advantages of the arrangement.

b. The county superintendent or superintendents shall grant approval based on guidelines to be established by the State Board of Education.

5. (New section) Any boards obtaining the approval of the county superintendent or superintendents may contract with one another for the sharing of a superintendent or school business administrator. The contract shall be in writing and shall address the responsibilities of each district under the sharing relationship, including the apportionment of costs. The agreement shall be made contingent upon the districts’ mutual agreement on a candidate to fill the shared position and shall be conterminous with the superintendent’s or business administrator’s employment contract.

a. The school districts shall together agree on how the initial costs of sharing a superintendent or business administrator shall be apportioned, which apportionment shall be expressed as a percentage for each district, and shall include the cost of salaries and benefits. The State Board of Education shall adopt guidelines regarding the apportionment of expenses between the sharing districts.

b. At least one year prior to the expiration of the first or any subsequent contract between school boards sharing a superintendent or business administrator, a board wishing to terminate the contract shall notify, in writing, the other board or boards and the superintendent or business administrator, that it wishes to terminate the contract.

c. Should a board give a notice of termination, the contract between the boards shall be terminated at the expiration of that term and the superintendent or business administrator shall not be reappointed by the joint boards at the end of the current term. However, the termination shall not preclude a board from reemploying the superintendent or business administrator on an individual basis.

6. (New section) The boards of education may, by contract, appoint a shared superintendent or school business administrator, for a term of not less than three nor more than five years and expiring July 1, by the recorded roll call majority vote of the membership of each board. At the conclusion of the term of the initial contract or of any subsequent contract, the superintendent or business administrator shall be deemed reappointed for another contracted term of the same duration as the previous contract unless either:

a. The boards shall together agree to reappoint the person by contract for a different term, which term shall not be less than three nor more than five years in which event reappointments thereafter shall be deemed for the new term unless a different term is again specified; or

b. At least one year prior to the expiration of the first or any subsequent contract a board shall notify the superintendent or business administrator and the other board or boards in writing that the person will not be reappointed at the end of the current term, in which event the person’s employment shall cease at the expiration of that term. The contract between the boards shall also be terminated. However, the termination shall not preclude any board from reemploying the superintendent or business administrator on an individual basis.

7. (New section) During the term of any employment contract with the board, a shared superintendent or school business administrator shall not be dismissed or reduced in compensation except for inefficiency, incapacity, or conduct unbecoming or other just cause and then only in the manner prescribed by N.J.S. 18A:6-9 et seq.

8. (New section) The initial terms and conditions of the employment contract between the boards and the superintendent or school business administrator shall be determined by the boards and the superintendent or business administrator within guidelines to be set by the State Board of Education. The terms shall be maintained for the life of the contract.

Boards may mutually agree to provide additional benefits or compensation during the life of the superintendent’s or business administrator’s contract, but if agreement is not possible, an individual board may do so unilaterally based upon the superintendent’s or business administrator’s performance and the needs of the district, and the responsibility for the cost of the additional benefits shall rest solely with that individual board.

9. (New section) Each district shall ensure that the shared superintendent or school business administrator is evaluated individually in that district, in accordance with statute and regulation.

10. (New section) The county superintendent shall serve as an arbitrator over any disputes arising over the interpretation of the contract between the boards of education sharing a superintendent or a school business administrator.

11. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill replaces the existing provisions authorizing several boards of education to share one superintendent or school business administrator with more comprehensive procedures. The proposal would give boards of education greater authority to appoint a shared superintendent than they have currently. Under existing law it is the commissioner who appoints a superintendent subject to approval of the State byoard. This bill would allow boards to jointly choose the candidate of their choice.

Under the proposal, the position of shared business administrator, like that of superintendent, would not be a tenurable position. Moreover, the bill would not affect the ability of a school district to subcontract the services of its school business administrator to another school district. The bill makes it clear that should a district choose subcontracting of a school business administrator over sharing, credit toward tenure acquisition accrues only in the primary district of employment.

Boards seeking to share a superintendent or business administrator must receive approval from the county superintendent or superintendents after soliciting community input and presenting a report to the county superintendent or superintendents describing both how the shared relationship would operate and its projected impact on the districts’ effective rendering of services. Further, the bill would permit boards to decide between themselves how the costs of the shared relationship will be apportioned, with guidance from the State Board of Education.

Boards obtaining county approval would enter into a written contract with one another prior to making the appointment. The written contract would be contingent upon finding a mutually agreeable candidate, would define the sharing relationship and would include the apportionment of costs between the districts pursuant to guidelines to be established by the State Board of Education. The districts would jointly agree on a superintendent or business administrator and would together enter into an employment contract with the person, which is to be separate from the agreement between the districts to share a superintendent or business administrator.

Upon the recorded roll call majority vote of each board, the districts would be authorized to offer the shared employee a three to five year contract expiring July 1. At the end of the term of the initial contract, the superintendent or business administrator would be deemed reappointed for another term of the same duration unless the boards were to jointly agree to reappoint the person for a different term, or unless at least one year prior to the expiration of the contract either board were to provide written notice of nonrenewal to both the shared employee and the other board. Similarly, the employment would cease if either board, at least one year prior to the expiration of the contract, gave written notice to all parties that it no longer wished to be a party to the contract for the sharing of a superintendent or school business administrator, as appropriate. In either event, the contract between the boards would be conterminous with that of the superintendent’s or business administrator’s contract. The fact that the shared employee’s contract is terminated does not preclude an individual district from offering the employee employment.

The initial terms and conditions of the employment contract between the two boards and the superintendent or school business administrator would be determined by both boards and the superintendent, within guidelines to be set by the State Board of Education. The terms would be maintained for the life of the contract. Boards may mutually agree to provide additional benefits or compensation during the life of the contract, but if agreement is not possible, an individual board could do so, and would bear the sole responsibility for the cost of such additional benefits. Each district would have an individual obligation to evaluate the superintendent. The county superintendent would serve as an arbitrator over any disputes arising over the interpretation of the employment contract.

Provides procedure for school districts which determine to share the services of a superintendent or business administrator.