Bill Text: NJ S512 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires members of State Board of Education to attend meetings in person to be recorded as present.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee [S512 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S512-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator JAMES W. HOLZAPFEL
District 10 (Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Requires members of State Board of Education to attend meetings in person to be recorded as present.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning State Board of Education meetings and amending N.J.S.18A:4-7.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. N.J.S.18A:4-7 is amended to read as follows:
18A:4-7. The [state board] State Board of Education shall hold public meetings at least once in each month at such times as its rules may prescribe and at such other times and such places within the [state] State as in its judgment may be necessary, but no meeting shall commence later than eight P.M. A member of the State Board of Education shall only be recorded as present if the member attends the meeting in person, except as may be otherwise determined during a state of emergency declared by the Governor.
All public meetings of the State Board of Education, including any portion of a public meeting designated for public comment, shall be accessible to the public both in person and virtually. A link for virtual access to the meeting shall be publicly available on the State Board of Education's Internet website. For any public meeting in which the State Board of Education accepts public comment, members of the public shall be permitted to make comments by means of remote communication.
(cf: N.J.S.18A:4-7)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill provides that a member of the State Board of Education may only be recorded as present if the member attends the meeting in person, except as may be otherwise determined during a state of emergency declared by the Governor.
The bill also requires all public meetings of the State Board of Education to be accessible to the public both in person and virtually. A link providing virtual access to meetings is required to be publicly available on the State Board of Education's website. Finally, for any meeting in which the State Board of Education accepts public comment, the bill stipulates that members of the public will be able to provide comments by means of remote communication.
