Lawrence BOE Passes Criminal Background Check

All Lawrence Township Board of Education members are free to continue their volunteer service after complying with required criminal background checks now required by the state Board of Education.

On Thursday, the NJ DOE released a list of of 186 school board members and charter school trustees statewide who did not complete the background exam by the Dec. 31 deadline. (The list is available in PDF form from the media box at the right.)
 
The listed school board members/charter school trustees must vacate their positions immediately, according to state Dept. of Education spokesperson Allison Kobus.

Additional school board members or charter school trustees may yet have to forfeit their positions, according to Kobus. Some board members or trustees filled out the forms improperly or failed to pay the required fee, she said in a news release. 

The background checks were required by the New Jersey general assembly in legislation passed last year, to require school board members and charter school trustees to meet the same standards required of school teachers. If board members or trustees show up for meetings, they could be charged with a fourth degree crime.

New Jersey is apparently the only state to require the background examinations.