N.J. Admin. Code § 6A:23A-5.2

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 8, April 15, 2024

Section 6A:23A-5.2 - Public relations and professional services; district board of education policies; efficiency

(a) Each district board of education of a school district and CVSD shall establish by policy(ies) a strategy(ies) to minimize the cost of public relations as defined in N.J.A.C. 6A:23A-9.3(c), and professional services. The policy(ies) shall include, to the extent practical and cost effective, but need not be limited to, the following provisions:

1. A maximum dollar limit, established annually prior to budget preparation, for public relations, as defined in N.J.A.C. 6A:23A-9.3(c), and each type of professional service, with appropriate notification to the district board of education if it becomes necessary to exceed the maximum. Upon such notification, the district board of education may adopt a dollar increase in the maximum amount through formal district board of education action;

2. Establishment of procedures to ensure the prudent use of legal services by employees and district board of education members and the tracking of the use of those services.

3. School districts with legal costs that exceed 130 percent of the Statewide average per pupil amount should establish the following procedures and, if not established, provide evidence the procedures would not result in a reduction of costs:

i. A limitation on the number of contact persons with the authority to request services or advice from contracted legal counsel;

ii. Criteria or guidance to prevent the use of legal counsel unnecessarily for management decisions or readily available information contained in school district materials such as policies, administrative regulations, or guidance available through professional source materials;

iii. A provision that requests for legal advice shall be made in writing and shall be maintained on file in the school district offices and a process to determine whether the request warrants legal advice or if legal advice is necessary; and

iv. A provision to maintain a log of all legal counsel contact, including name of legal counsel contacted, date of contact, issue discussed, and length of contact. Legal bills shall be compared to the contact log and any variances shall be investigated and resolved;

4. A provision that requires contracts for legal services to comply with payment requirements and restrictions pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:19-1 et seq. and as follows:

i. Advance payments shall be prohibited;

ii. Services to be provided shall be described in detail in the contract;

iii. Invoices for payment shall itemize the services provided for the billing period; and

iv. Payment shall be only for services actually provided;

5. Professional services contracts are issued in a deliberative and efficient manner that ensures the school district receives the highest quality services at a fair and competitive price or through a shared service arrangement. This may include, but is not limited to, issuance of such contracts through a request for proposals (RFP) based on cost and other specified factors or other comparable process; and

6. Professional services contracts are limited to non-recurring or specialized work for which the school district does not possess adequate in-house resources or in-house expertise to conduct.

(b) School districts and CVSDs shall not contract with legal counsel or use in-house legal counsel to pursue any affirmative claim or cause of action on behalf of school district administrators and/or any individual district board of education member(s) for any claim or cause of action in which the damages to be awarded would benefit an individual rather than the school district as a whole.

(c) School district and CVSD publications shall be produced and distributed in the most cost-efficient manner possible that will enable the school district to inform and educate the target community. The use of expensive materials or production techniques where lower cost methods are available and appropriate, such as the use of multi-color glossy publications instead of suitable, less expensive alternatives, shall be prohibited.

(d) School districts and CVSDs shall not distribute, via mass mailings or other means to the school district community at large, publications that include the picture(s) of any district board of education member(s) within 90 days before any election in which any district board of education member is seeking any elective office or any election relating to school district operations held in the school district. Moreover, any publication(s) distributed by the district board of education via mass mailings or other means to the school district community at large within 60 days before any election in which any district board of education member is seeking any elective office or any election relating to school district operations held in the district shall be submitted to the executive county superintendent for review prior to distribution to ensure public funds are being expended in a reasonable and cost-effective manner.

(e) Public relations activities, such as booths at Statewide conferences, marketing activities and celebrations for opening schools and community events, and TV productions that are not part of the instructional program or do not provide, in a cost-effective way, information about school district or district board of education operations to the public, that are excessive in nature are prohibited. All activities involving promotional efforts to advance a particular position on school elections or any referenda shall be prohibited.

(f) Nothing in this section shall preclude a district board(s) of education from accepting donations or volunteer services from community members, local private education foundations, and local business owners to conduct or assist in public relations services. Examples include, but are not limited to:

1. Providing school district flyers, newsletters, or other materials containing school district related information of public concern to local businesses, public meeting places, or other local organizations to display or make available for dissemination;

2. Making school district related information of public concern available to local newspapers to publish related articles; and

3. Utilizing volunteer services of local community members, school district employees, members of parent organizations, or local businesses with expertise in related areas such as printing, advertising, publishing, or journalism.

N.J. Admin. Code § 6A:23A-5.2

Amended by 49 N.J.R. 1038(a), effective 5/1/2017