9130 Committees Regulation

NORTHFIELD CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION FILE CODE: 9130

Northfield, New Jersey Monitored

Mandated

Regulation X Other Reasons

COMMITTEES

The standing committees of the board shall be: curriculum, finance, facilities, negotiations, personnel, and policy. The standing committees of the board exist to perform the following general functions, within their given area of responsibility:

1. Gather and assess information;
2. Investigate, study and prepare recommendations for board review and action;
3. Monitor compliance with board policies and regulations and ensure that administrative

regulations are in compliance with and in furtherance of board policies, regulations and

directives;

1. Standing committees do not have authority to take binding action on the board’s behalf nor to

expend funds unless specifically authorized to do so by action of the board;

1. Standing committees contain less than an effective majority of the board;

The board may create additional standing committees should the need arise.

General Committee Responsibilities

Committee responsibilities will include:

1. Conducting periodic reviews and updates;
2. Making appropriate reports to the whole board concerning these reviews and updates;
3. Recommending any changes to existing bylaws, policies, regulations and other procedures;
4. Research and draft new policies and procedures for board review;
5. Research and draft policy and procedure revisions.

These general responsibilities are not an all-inclusive list. The board may assign additional responsibilities to existing committees.

Responsibilities of the Standing Committees

Committee Designation Areas of Responsibility

Curriculum Curriculum, Public Relations,

Student Affairs

Finance Finance, Cafeteria, Insurance

Facilities Facilities, Equipment

Negotiations Negotiations

Personnel Personnel, Litigation

Policy Policy, Legislative Affairs

The superintendent shall designate appropriate administrative personnel to act as resource persons for these committees. The resource persons shall attend all meetings of the respective committees. In the absence of specific designation to the contrary, the following will apply:

1. Curriculum
2. Oversight of the curriculum, instructional procedures and program of studies, including the selection and utilization of educational materials and any revision, change or alteration of the foregoing;
3. Annual review and recommendation to the board concerning the course of studies and the actual courses to be conducted for the following school year;
4. Monitoring student performance on statewide and nationwide tests;
5. Preparation, review and update, with the superintendent, of all district long-range educational plans;
6. Review all external monitoring reports addressing educational matters;
7. Monitors all student clubs, organizations, athletic teams, and co-curricular activities and events Makes recommendations to the board concerning the establishment or elimination of student clubs, organizations, athletic teams and co-curricular activities and events;
8. Monitors student conduct, discipline and adherence to school authority, as well as student achievements and problems.
9. Finance
10. Monthly review and signature of all purchase orders and invoices to be submitted to the board for approval with special emphasis on ensuring invoices are supported by previously approved purchase orders;
11. Oversight of all school insurance policies;
12. Preparation, in conjunction with the superintendent and business administrator, of the annual school budget for presentation to the entire board for action;
13. Oversight, on an on-going basis, for the administration of the budget to ensure that expenditures are in accordance with the adopted budget, both as to purpose and amount;
14. Oversight of all district financial affairs;
15. Review of annual audit; recommendations to the board for adoption of procedures to implement corrections recommended by the audit; oversight to ensure compliance with implementation of corrections recommended by audit;
16. Review of all financial reports prepared by the district, both for internal and external purposes.
17. Facilities
18. Ensures that school facilities and grounds are maintained to provide for a safe and healthy environment; monitors school maintenance, repair and general housekeeping;
19. Reviews proposals for major expenditures on equipment and facilities, both as to their repair, upgrade and maintenance, as well as the acquisition of new equipment or the construction/development of new facilities and makes appropriate recommendations to the board concerning same;
20. Monitors district inventory programs to ensure accountability (to include spot-checks to ascertain the actual whereabouts of selected items) of all items of nonexpendable equipment and property owned by the district, with special emphasis on items with a high risk of pilferage or unauthorized use, such as television and video equipment; computers and their related peripherals and programs; library books, audio/visual equipment, such as tape recorders, overhead projectors, slide projectors, video tapes and films) and makes recommendations to the board for the adoption/implementation of inventory control procedures;
21. Makes recommendations to the board concerning the conduct of external inventories of assets;
22. Reviews all requests for use of school facilities by outside organizations and individuals to ensure compliance with board policies and regulations concerning their use, such as insurance requirements and compatibility of the proposed use with any district functions or uses for such facilities; makes recommendations to the board for use of such facilities by those outside organizations, together with recommendations for the waiver of any fees, as appropriate;
23. Monitors the use of school facilities by outside organizations and individuals.
24. Personnel
25. Reviews all recommendations of the superintendent concerning the hiring, termination, discipline or other actions concerning any employees of the district and makes other actions concerning any employees of the district and makes appropriate recommendation to the board for possible board action concerning same with the goal of ensuring that the district hires and retains the best qualified personnel;
26. Ensures that job descriptions are prepared for all jobs within the district and that they are reviewed and updated as necessary; makes recommendations to the entire board concerning the adoption of job descriptions for newly created positions, the adoption of appropriate revisions to existing job descriptions and the deletion of job descriptions for jobs which no longer exist;
27. Monitors the district employee evaluation program to ensure that appropriate evaluations are performed on all employees in accordance with law, regulations and/or employment contracts;
28. Responsible for administering the board evaluation of the superintendent, to include timely distribution to board members of evaluation forms, the receipt of completed evaluation forms, and the formulation of a composite evaluation to be presented to the entire board for final action, as well as the timely delivery and filing of the completed evaluation;
29. Recommends to the board evaluation of the board solicitor, labor relations attorney, auditor, architect and other special employees of the board, as needed;
30. Monitors graduate level credit completion of staff to ensure timely board action on salary guide adjustments, based on attainment of requisite additional education;
31. Monitors compliance with affirmative action and non-discrimination policies as prescribed by federal or state law and regulations as well as district plans and programs in those areas;
32. Monitors and keeps the board informed concerning all litigation arising out of the applicability and enforcement of any labor relations contract.
33. Negotiations
34. Negotiates, within the parameters approved by the board, all employee contracts within the district, both with recognized bargaining units and with individual, non-represented employees; provides regular up-dates to the board concerning the progress of such negotiations;
35. Monitors compliance with and enforcement of the terms and conditions of any negotiated labor contract within the district;
36. Makes recommendations to the board, as appropriate, concerning the use of a professional negotiator with regard to employment contracts;
37. Hears employee contractual grievances, as assigned by the board;
38. Monitors all district arbitration, mediation and fact-finding proceedings and reports to the board concerning same.
39. Policy
40. Develops and updates the board policy/governance manual and makes recommendations to the board for the adoption of new or revised bylaws, policies and board regulations;
41. Monitors compliance with board policies and regulations, to include monitoring administrative regulations and directives to ensure they are in compliance with existing policies and regulations and makes recommendations to the board for action concerning areas of activity with the district where the adoption or revision of a bylaw, policy or regulation would be appropriate in order to further the intentions of the board;
42. Maintains the board members’ reference library;

Committee Resource Person

Curriculum Curriculum coordinator, Superintendent,

Principals

Finance Business Administrator, Superintendent

Facilities Business Administrator, Superintendent

Personnel Superintendent

Negotiations Superintendent, Business Administrator

Policy Superintendent

Committee Procedures

1. Board members are appointed annually to the standing committees of the board by the board president, at or shortly after the board Reorganization Meeting. The board president shall consult with the individual board members prior to their appointment to committees to learn the board members’ areas of strength and requests for assignment. Any board member may refuse a committee assignment without prejudice. The board president shall appoint the chairpersons of the standing committees;
2. A board member specifically designated as a committee alternate by the board president shall be counted as a full voting member of the committee when a regularly assigned member of the committee is absent;
3. The board president serves as ex officio member of all committees;
4. It is the function of standing committees of the board to review administrative proposals within their area of oversight prior to formal action of the board;
5. Each standing committee shall furnish an advisory report to the board at the monthly board meeting;
6. Recommendations or motions for board action are usually contained in a committee report when a majority of those present agree.  However, there may be occasions when issues arise after the appropriate committee has met that need to be put on board agenda for consideration.  Those motions or recommendations will be explained at the board meeting by the superintendent or designee.
7. The decision of a board committee not to report out and/or move a specific course of action at a board meeting does not in any way preclude the superintendent or any other board member from addressing the issue, and the board acting upon the issue under unfinished or new business;
8. Board committees meet at the discretion of the individual committee chairpersons, with the consent of the committee members. Board committees may establish regular monthly meeting dates at their own discretion;
9. Committee meetings are open to board members, the superintendent and staff invited by the committee. In addition, committee meetings may be open to public inspection at the discretion of the individual committees of the board. The board reserves to its individual committee chairpersons the right to convene committee fact finding meetings, either as part of a committee meeting or totally separate from a committee meeting, for the purpose of soliciting community reaction to school issues at the committee level. In no event shall a majority of the board attend a committee meeting.

Adopted: February 23, 2015

Revised: November 24, 2020