New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 6A - EDUCATION › Chapter 23A - FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY, EFFICIENCY AND BUDGETING PROCEDURES › Subchapter 2 - EXECUTIVE COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS › Section 6A:23A-2.5 - Plan for school district consolidation to create regional school districts

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) The executive county superintendent, in
				consultation with the advisory committee, shall study the consolidation of
				school districts within the county, other than county school districts and
				school districts operating preschool or kindergarten through grade 12 schools,
				into one or more all-purpose regional school districts. The study shall focus,
				to the greatest extent practicable, on the consolidation of school districts
				that receive students on a tuition basis with the sending school districts, and
				the consolidation of limited-purpose regional school districts that receive
				students from constituent municipalities to create enlarged all-purpose
				regional school districts. The study may also consider school district models
				of "alternative approaches" from consolidating or sharing administrative or
				management services between school districts where creation of an all-purpose
				regional school district is not feasible or is not the most cost-effective
				option. If a proposed alternative approach is not currently authorized by
				statute, and the plan with the alternative approach is approved by the
				Commissioner pursuant to (b) below, the proposal shall not be submitted to the
				voters in a special election pursuant to
				N.J.S.A.
				18A:7-8, unless and until statutory
				authorization for the alternative approach is duly enacted.
(b) Based on the study required in (a) above,
				the Executive County Superintendent shall submit to the Commissioner a plan to
				achieve this purpose no later than March 15, 2010 pursuant to
				18A:7-8(h). The
				plan shall contain, but not be limited to, the following issues:
1. A general description of the proposed
				all-purpose regional school district(s), including the names of the constituent
				school districts, school buildings and grade levels by school district, and the
				area of the total proposed regional school district;
2. The proposed structure of the new district
				board of education of the proposed all-purpose regional school district, if
				applicable, that ensures representation from all constituent
				communities;
3. An analysis of
				administrative staffing, collective bargaining agreements, and compensation
				guides of the constituent school districts and recommendations and guidance for
				the proposed regional school district, including, but not limited to:
i. The existing administrative organization
				structures of each constituent school district;
ii. A proposed administrative organization
				chart for the proposed regional school district;
iii. Copies of each constituent school
				district's bargaining agreement(s) and the associated salary guides;
iv. A summary report showing each constituent
				school district's first step and last step of the salary guides for the current
				and last year of each school district's current bargaining agreement(s),
				showing the lowest and highest starting salaries among the salary guides and
				the lowest and highest top salaries among the salary guides for the current and
				last year of each school district's current bargaining agreement(s), the length
				of the guide, each school district's current average teacher salary and average
				years of service, and any provisions for longevity pay;
v. A recommended framework for negotiation of
				a new collective bargaining agreement in the proposed regional school
				district;
vi. A recommended
				framework to assign, recruit, interview, and employ administrative staff in
				accordance with the positions on the recommended administrative organization
				chart in accordance with
				N.J.S.A.
				18A:6-31.3 through 31.7; and
vii. A recommended framework to assign,
				recruit, interview, and employ other teaching staff members and other staff in
				accordance with
				N.J.S.A.
				18A:6-31.3 through 31.7;
4. An analysis of each proposed constituent
				school district's educational program and recommendations and guidance for
				establishing the educational program of the proposed regional school
				district;
5. An analysis of
				potential opportunities for greater effectiveness and efficiency including, but
				not limited to:
i. Consolidation of special
				education programs and services consistent with the requirements of the
				Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA),
				20 U.S.C. §§
												1400 et seq., State statutes and regulations
				(examples: more efficient inclusive practices, returning out-of-district
				placements, staff consolidation, and maximization of special education class
				sizes to legal limits);
ii.
				Maximization of student transportation cost savings and other efficiencies
				through coordinated bell schedules, tiered bus routes, and other efficiencies
				created by the consolidation of transportation management services;
iii. Consolidation of computer networks and
				administrative systems such as finance and human resource systems.
iv. Food service operations (example;
				centralizing meal preparation with satellite cafeterias); and
v. Other areas of consolidation and economies
				of scale such as staff development, curriculum development, health services,
				guidance services, media services, extra- and co-curricular activities, and
				plant operation and maintenance;
6. An analysis of socioeconomic and
				demographic information, including, but not limited to:
i. Current and projected enrollment data for
				the succeeding five school years by location, school, and grade, and for the
				proposed regional school district as a whole;
ii. Enrollment data by location, school, and
				grade showing the student population's current racial composition and the
				resulting racial composition for the proposed regional school district as a
				whole;
iii. Enrollment data showing
				the school food service eligibility status (free, reduced, or paid) of the
				student population by location, school, and grade, and for the proposed
				regional school district as a whole; and
vi. Attendance areas by school building,
				grade, current and projected enrollment of the constituent school districts,
				and recommended grade configurations and attendance areas for each existing and
				proposed school building, if applicable, of the proposed regional school
				district;
7. A summary
				of the advantages and disadvantages for each constituent school district of
				forming an all-purpose regional school district;
8. A recommendation by the executive county superintendent
				regarding the formation of the proposed regional school district;
9. If the recommendation of the Executive
				County Superintendent is to form a regional school district, the following
				additional information shall be included in the plan:
i. A comparison of the estimated State aid
				and property tax impact for the proposed regional school district and the sum
				of State aid and property taxes for the constituent school districts;
ii. An impact assessment of property tax
				apportionment among the constituent school districts using a minimum of three
				apportionment methods:
(1) The proportion of
				each constituent municipality's equalized valuation;
(2) A combination using 50 percent of the
				proportion of each constituent municipality's equalized valuation and 50
				percent of the proportion of each constituent school district's pupil
				enrollments; and
(3) A combination
				of equalized valuation and pupil enrollments using a percentage split that most
				closely approximates each proposed constituent school district's current
				percentage share of the sum of all proposed constituent school districts'
				current property taxes to the percentage share that would result after a
				regional school district is newly created or enlarged;
iii. A comprehensive financial analysis of
				current and projected spending, local community wealth, debt limit and current
				debt burden, including, but not limited to:
(1) The projected current operating expenses
				of the proposed regional school district had it operated in the school year in
				which the plan is issued, and the current operating expenses of the constituent
				school districts for the school year in which the plan is issued, both
				individually and in the aggregate;
(2) The aggregate equalized valuation,
				average equalized valuation, and equalized valuation per pupil of each
				constituent school district or, if a constituent school district is a regional
				school district, of each municipality of the regional school
				district;
(3) The aggregate income,
				average household income, and aggregate income per pupil of each constituent
				school district or, if a constituent school district is a regional school
				district, of each municipality of the regional school district;
(4) The borrowing margin of each constituent
				school district or, if a regional school district, each municipality of the
				regional school district, and the projected borrowing margin of the proposed
				regional school district as determined in accordance with
				N.J.S.A.
				18A:24-1 et seq.;
(5) A schedule showing for each constituent
				school district, or if a regional school district, its municipalities, the
				original and current debt principal balance(s) and remaining debt service
				schedule(s) by debt issuance, and percentage of each constituent school
				district's debt principal relative to the aggregate debt principal of all
				proposed constituent school districts;
(6) The individual and aggregate historical
				and replacement costs as of June 30 of the school year prior to the year in
				which the plan is issued of school buildings and additions, grounds,
				furnishings, and equipment of each constituent school district and for the
				proposed regional school district, as a whole; and
(7) The individual and aggregate projected
				additional costs as of June 30 of the school year prior to the year in which
				the plan is issued contained in each constituent school district's approved
				LRFP of school buildings and additions, grounds, furnishings, and equipment of
				each constituent school district and for the proposed regional school district,
				as a whole; and
iv. A
				LRFP for the regional school district, if new schools and/or additions are
				recommended that are not currently reflected in the existing plans of the
				constituent school districts; and
10. If the recommendation of the executive
				county superintendent also includes an alternative approach for consolidating
				or sharing administrative or management services, the information in (b)1
				through 8 above, as applicable, related to the alternative approach(es) shall
				be included in the plan.