New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 6A - EDUCATION › Chapter 28 - SCHOOL ETHICS COMMISSION › Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 6A:28-1.2 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
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:
1. Holds a position that requires a
				certificate that authorizes the holder to serve as a school administrator,
				principal, or school business administrator; or
2. Holds a position that does not require the
				person hold any type of certificate, but who is responsible for making
				recommendations regarding hiring or the purchase or acquisition of any property
				or services by the school district; or
3. Holds a position that requires a
				certificate that authorizes the holder to serve as a supervisor and who is
				responsible for making recommendations regarding hiring or the purchase or
				acquisition of any property or services by the school district.
"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:
1. Commenced, used,
				or continued in bad faith, solely for the purpose of harassment, delay, or
				malicious injury; or
2. One that
				the complainant knew, or should have known, was without any reasonable basis in
				law or equity and could not be supported by a good faith argument for an
				extension, modification, or reversal of existing law.
"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.