Nominating Positions For School Board Seats Due Next Week

Individuals interested in submitting nominating petitions to run for the Jefferson Township Board of Education are reminded that the deadline for filing is 4 p.m. on Tuesday, March 8. The election is scheduled for April 27. There are three, three-year seats available.

Prospective school board candidates may obtain a school board candidate kit at the Jefferson Township Board of Education office located at 28 Bowling Green Parkway in Lake Hopatcong.  The information may also be obtained at the New Jersey School Boards Association’s website (http://www.NJSBA.org).

The New Jersey School Boards Association publishes the candidate kit which includes information about legal qualifications for school board candidacy, campaign procedures, and the role of the school board member.  Also included in the kit is information about the New Jersey School Ethics Action, important dates in the school election process, and briefing sessions for school board candidates.

To become a member of a local board of education in New Jersey, an individual must:

o   Be able to read and write;

o   Hold U.S. citizenship and one year’s residency in the school

district;

o   Be registered to vote in the district before filing the nominating

petition;

o   Have no interest in any contract with, or claim against, the

board;

o   Not hold office as mayor or member of the municipal governing

                              body or, in the case of county school districts, the county

                             governing body; and

o   Not simultaneously hold two elective offices.

 Board member responsibilities include adopting policies under which the school district operates; overseeing the budget; approving the curriculum; hiring and evaluating the superintendent; representing the public during contract negotiations; and serving as a communications link between the community and the school system. Individual schoolboard members have no authority except that which results from participation in decisions of the board during an official meeting. Actions, promises or commitments made by individual board members are without legal basis and have no binding commitment upon the district. Board members are elected to represent the entire district in all matters pertaining to education, and not any one segment of the community.

 By accepting this responsibility, an individual effectively agrees to attend regular and special board meetings, to review the board packet in advance of meetings, to attend meetings of any board committees to which that person may be assigned, and to keep informed about the issues on which board decisions must be made.  New Jersey law requires that during the first year of their first term in office all board of education members complete training in the roles and responsibilities of school board membership. State law also requires board members to take additional training in each of the subsequent two years of the first term in office, as well as within the first year after reelection or reappointment to an additional term.

 Please contact Dora E. Zeno, Board Secretary, if you are interesting in running for the board and have additional questions.  She may be reached at 973-663-5780, ext. 5010.