N.J. Admin. Code § 6A:28-1.2
The following words and terms shall have the following meanings when used in this chapter, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
"Act" means N.J.S.A. 18A:12-21 et seq., the School Ethics Act (P.L. 1991, c. 393).
"Administrator" means any officer or employee of a school district, charter school, or renaissance school project, but not a member of a district board of education or member of a board of trustees of a charter school or renaissance school project, who:
"ALJ" means an administrative law judge assigned to preside over contested cases pursuant to N.J.S.A. 52:14F-1 et seq.
"Benefit" as used in the Act, means direct or indirect advantage, profit, privilege, or gain, whether financial, personal, or otherwise.
"Board member" means any person holding membership, whether by election or appointment, upon being sworn in, on any district board of education.
"Board of trustees" means the public agent authorized to supervise and control a charter school or renaissance school project.
"Board secretary" means the school district employee responsible for fulfilling a district board of education's statutory and regulatory obligations to the School Ethics Commission.
"Censure" means a formal expression of disapproval by the Commissioner of Education for a violation(s) of the Act, which is publicized by the adoption of a formal resolution by the School Ethics Commission, and which is provided to the district board of education or the board of trustees to read and adopt at its next regularly scheduled public meeting. In the case of an officer or employee of the New Jersey School Boards Association, censure means a formal expression of disapproval publicized by the adoption of a formal resolution by the School Ethics Commission at a public meeting.
"Charter school" means a public school established pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:36A-1 et seq., that is operated under a charter granted by the Commissioner of Education, that is independent of the district board of education, and that is managed by a board of trustees. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:12-23.1, the provisions of the Act shall apply to an administrator and a member of a board of trustees of a charter school established pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:36A-1 et seq.
"Charter school or renaissance school project designee" means the charter school or renaissance school project employee responsible for fulfilling the statutory and regulatory obligations of the board of trustees to the School Ethics Commission.
"Code of Ethics for School Board Members" means the standards of conduct established pursuant to P.L. 2001, c. 178(N.J.S.A. 18A:12-24.1).
"Commission" means the School Ethics Commission established pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:12-27.
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Education or the Commissioner's designee.
"Complainant" means the person bringing a complaint of an alleged violation of the Act or the person established as a lead complainant pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:28-6.6.
"Day" means a business day when the period specified is less than seven days, and a calendar day when the period specified is seven days or more. Calculations do not include the day from which days are computed, but include the last day of the period. If the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or State holiday, the last day shall be deemed the next business day.
"Dependent child" means any child claimed as a dependent on the board member's, member of a board of trustees', or administrator's Federal or State tax returns.
"Disclosure statements" means the Financial and the Personal/Relative Disclosure Statements that board members, members of a board of trustees, and administrators are required to file annually pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:12-25 and 18A:12-26.
"District board of education" means the board of education of a local or regional school district, county special services school district, or county vocational school district; the board of directors of an educational services commission or jointure commission; and the board of education of a school district under State intervention.
"Financial Disclosure Statement" means the statement of personal finances that board members, members of a board of trustees, and administrators are required to file annually pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:12-26, and that are based upon the previous year's finances.
"Fine" means a sanction imposed pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:12-29(e), for the filing of a frivolous complaint in an amount not to exceed $ 500.00.
"Frivolous complaint" means a complaint determined by the Commission to be:
"Income" means income, as defined by the Internal Revenue Service except as otherwise provided at N.J.S.A. 18A:12-26.a(1).
"List of school officials" means the electronic list prepared by each board secretary, or charter school or renaissance school project designee, and provided to the Commission on the dates prescribed in this chapter. This list is a public record and is subject to the Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq.
"Member of immediate family" means the spouse, civil union partner, or domestic partner of a school official, or a dependent child residing in the same household as the school official.
"Newly elected or appointed board member" means any board member who has never served as a member of either an elected or appointed district board of education in New Jersey or who has not previously completed a training program prepared and offered by the New Jersey School Boards Association pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:12-33.
"OAL" means the Office of Administrative Law established pursuant to N.J.S.A. 52:14F-1 et seq.
"Party" means a person who is designated on record as a complainant or respondent or the Commission.
"Penalty" or "sanction" means the form of discipline that the Commission recommends to the Commissioner. Penalties include reprimand, censure, suspension, or removal of a board member, a member of a board of trustees, or an administrator.
"Person" means a human being, and does not include district boards of education, boards of trustees, labor organizations, or school districts.
"Personal/Relative Disclosure Statement" means the statement that board members, members of a board of trustees, and administrators are required to file annually pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:12-25.
"Prohibited acts" means the forbidden conduct set forth for board members, members of a board of trustees, and administrators at N.J.S.A. 18A:12-24.
"Recuse" means to formally disqualify and remove oneself from participating in a matter, including, without limitation, discussions and/or votes, because of a conflict of interest.
"Relative" means an individual's spouse, civil union partner pursuant to N.J.S.A. 37:1-33, domestic partner as defined at N.J.S.A. 26:8A-3, or the parent, child, sibling, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, grandparent, grandchild, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, stepparent, stepchild, stepbrother, stepsister, half-brother, or half-sister of the individual or the individual's spouse, civil union partner, or domestic partner, whether the relative is related to the individual or the individual's spouse, civil union partner, or domestic partner by blood, marriage, or adoption.
"Remedy" means the actions that the Commission may take for violations of the Act or this chapter and include, without limitation, the issuance of an Order to Show Cause, referral to another New Jersey Department of Education office for appropriate action, the issuance of a complaint, the filing of a cause of action, or the recommendation of an appropriate penalty to the Commissioner.
"Removal" means a form of penalty imposed for a violation(s) of the Act that results, following adoption by the Commissioner, in the immediate termination of a board member's or a member of a board of trustees' membership. For administrators, removal means a form of penalty that results, following adoption by the Commissioner, in termination of employment.
"Renaissance school project" means a school or group of schools established pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:36C-1 et seq., operated under a Commissioner-approved contract with a school district, independent of the district board of education, and managed by a board of trustees. Pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:31-7.2, the members of a renaissance school project board of trustees, as well as the administrators of a renaissance school project, are considered school officials who are required to abide by the Act and its implementing rules.
"Reprimand" means a form of penalty that declares the conduct of a board member, a member of a board of trustees, or an administrator violated the standards of conduct prescribed by the Act, but does not result in the publication or the adoption of a formal resolution by the Commission.
"Respondent" means the board member, the member of a board of trustees, or the administrator against whom a complaint is made pursuant to the Act.
"School district" means any local or regional school district, charter school, or renaissance school project established pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:8-1 et seq., 18A:13-1 et seq., 18A:36A-1 et seq., and 18A:36C-1 et seq., and includes, but is not limited to, jointure commissions, county vocational school districts, county special services districts, educational service commissions, educational research and demonstration centers, environmental education centers, and educational information and resource centers.
"School official" means a board member, a member of the board of trustees, an administrator, or an employee or officer of the New Jersey School Boards Association, but not including any member of the secretarial, clerical, or maintenance staff.
"Spouse" means the person to whom the school official is legally married under New Jersey law, and also includes a partner in a civil union as established at N.J.S.A. 37:1-33, or a domestic partner as established at N.J.S.A. 26:8A-1 et seq.
"Suspension" means a form of penalty imposed for a violation(s) of the Act that results in a school official being barred from engaging in any activity and/or matter related to the school official's position for a designated period of time.
"Trustee" means any person holding membership, upon being sworn in, on any board of trustees of a school district, charter school, or renaissance school project. For the purposes of this chapter, "trustee" includes members of any other board established to be the public agent authorized by the State Board of Education to supervise and control a school district through its administrative personnel.
N.J. Admin. Code § 6A:28-1.2
See: 31 N.J.R. 4166(a), 32 N.J.R. 1189(a).
In "Administrator", inserted a reference to charter schools in the introductory paragraph; rewrote "Censure", "Reprimand" and "School official"; inserted "Dependent child"; in "Member of the immediate family", deleted a former second sentence; in "Related to the school official by marriage", inserted a reference to sons-in-law and daughters-in-law; in "Relative", substituted a reference to school officials for a reference to school districts; in "Respondent", substituted a reference to school officials for a reference to board members and administrators; and in "Spouse", deleted "under New Jersey law" at the end.
Amended by R.2002 d.397, effective 12/16/2002.
See: 34 N.J.R. 3158(a), 34 N.J.R. 4434(a).
Added "Code of Ethics", and "Prohibited acts".
Amended by R.2004 d.378, effective 10/4/2004.
See: 36 N.J.R. 2285(a), 36 N.J.R. 4453(a).
In the introductory paragraph, substituted "chapter" for "subchapter"; added "Board of trustees", "Charter school", "Charter school designee", "Fine", "Frivolous complaint" and "Removal"; amended "ALJ", "Censure", "Commission", "Financial Disclosure Statement", "Newly elected or appointed board member", "OAL", "Personal/Relative Disclosure Statement", "Reprimand", "School official" and "Spouse".
Amended by R.2007 d.247, effective 8/20/2007.
See: 39 N.J.R. 821(a), 39 N.J.R. 3513(a).
In definition "Spouse", inserted "and also includes a partner in a civil union couple as established in P.L. 2006, c. 103".
Amended by R.2009 d.163, effective 5/18/2009.
See: 41 N.J.R. 26(a), 41 N.J.R. 699(a), 41 N.J.R. 2095(a).
Added definitions "Act", "Benefit", "Day", "Party" and "Person"; in definition "Charter school designee", substituted "statement" for "forms"; in definition "Complainant", inserted "or the person established as a lead complainant pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:28-6.6"; rewrote definitions "Member of the immediate family", "Personal/Relative Disclosure Statement" and "Relative"; deleted definition "Related to the school official by marriage"; and in definition "Spouse", substituted "N.J.S.A. 37:1-33" for " P.L. 2006, c. 103".