New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 6A - EDUCATION › Chapter 23A - FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY, EFFICIENCY AND BUDGETING PROCEDURES › Subchapter 22 - FINANCIAL OPERATIONS OF CHARTER SCHOOLS › Section 6A:23A-22.6 - Public relations and professional services; board policies; efficiency

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) Each charter school board shall establish
				by policy or policies a strategy or strategies in order to minimize the cost of
				public relations as defined in
				N.J.A.C.
				6A:23A-9.3(c)14, and
				professional services. The policy or policies shall include, to the extent
				practicable 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
				6A:23A-9.3(c)14,
				and each type of professional service, with appropriate notification to the
				board of trustees if it becomes necessary to exceed the maximum. Upon such
				notification, the board of trustees may adopt a dollar increase in the maximum
				amount through formal board action;
2. Establishment of procedures to ensure the
				prudent use of legal services by employees and board of trustees members and
				the tracking of the use of those services;
3. Charter schools shall establish procedures
				to effectively manage legal costs. Procedures may include:
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 charter school 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 business office 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 that contracts for legal services 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 charter school 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 charter school does not possess adequate in-house resources
				or in-house expertise to conduct.
i. Charter
				schools are prohibited from contracting with legal counsel or using in-house
				legal counsel to pursue any affirmative claim or cause of action on behalf of
				charter school administrators and/or any individual board members for any claim
				or cause of action in which the damages to be awarded would benefit an
				individual rather than the charter school as a whole.
ii. Charter school publications shall be
				produced and distributed in the most cost-efficient manner possible that will
				enable the charter school to inform and educate the target community. The use
				of expensive materials or production techniques where lower cost methods are
				available and appropriate, such as the use of multi-color glossy publications
				instead of suitable, less expensive alternatives, is prohibited.
iii. Public relations activities, such as
				booths at Statewide conferences, marketing activities and celebrations for
				opening schools and community events, and TV productions that are not part of
				the instructional program or do not provide, in a cost-effective way,
				information about charter school or board operations to the public, that are
				excessive in nature are prohibited. All activities involving promotional
				efforts to advance a particular position on elections or any referenda are
				prohibited.
iv. Nothing in this
				section shall preclude boards of trustees from accepting donations or volunteer
				services from community members, local private education foundations, and local
				business owners to conduct or assist in public relations services. Examples
				include, but are not limited to:
(1) Providing
				charter school flyers, newsletters, or other materials containing charter
				school related information of public concern to local businesses, public
				meeting places, or other local organizations to display or make available for
				dissemination;
(2) Making charter
				school related information of public concern available to local newspapers to
				publish related articles; and
(3)
				Utilizing volunteered services of local community members, charter school
				employees, members of parent organizations, or local businesses with expertise
				in related areas such as printing, advertising, publishing, or
				journalism.