New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 6A - EDUCATION › Chapter 23A - FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY, EFFICIENCY AND BUDGETING PROCEDURES › Subchapter 5 - ADDITIONAL MEASURES TO ENSURE EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT EXPENDITURES OF DISTRICT FUNDS › Section 6A:23A-5.2 - Public relations and professional services; district board of education policies; efficiency

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(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.