'Mammoth' BOE policy overhaul up for vote
BY DANIELLE MEDINA
Correspondent

Brick Township

BRICK TOWNSHIP - Board of Education members are expected to adopt a group of new and amended policies that directly affect all of them.

The 42 policies that make up the bylaws of the board have been updated and revised to bring them in line with state statutes and New Jersey School Board Association guidelines, school officials said.

"The goal of the policy committee was to raise the standards above the minimum," board member and policy committee Chairwoman Cynthia McCarthy said at a special meeting on Feb. 1. "When you choose to be on the board, here's the expectation."

McCarthy said that some policies are only new in the sense that the board never had them written down in a manual, but state law has always required that the regulations be followed.

Among the new policies is a conflict of interest policy that clearly states that a board member shall not use his or her position for financial gain or accept gifts, loans, services or political contributions.

"In New Jersey, there has been a serious mistrust of elected officials," board President Sharon Kight said. "This policy erases the blurry line of what is expected of us and what we expect of each other. This Board of Education wanted to set our standards higher."

State Department of Education Commissioner Lucille Davy last year ordered that Kight be suspended from her post for two months for ethics violations. Kight took "private action in confronting a member of the public in a verbal and physical manner regarding his comments," Davy said in her March 2006 decision.

Hudson Drive resident Madeline Iannarone said that the conflict of interest policy is just common sense.

"I would hate to think that a board member would use their position to prosper," she said.

A board self-evaluation policy provides the opportunity for the board to set goals and benchmarks for the school year.

Another new policy - board participation in high school graduation - allows past and present board members to present a diploma to their child upon graduation from high school.

"We've had it happen in this town before when that wasn't allowed because of politics or personal feelings," said board member Brian DeLuca.

One of the most extensive policies in the manual is the 10-page-long committees policy, which now delineates the role of each the board's 10 standing committees - business and finance; personnel; policy; curriculum, instruction and co-curricular; buildings and grounds; transportation; educational funding; pubic relations and legislative; athletic; and negotiations.

The review and changes in the board's bylaws are the latest efforts in the Board of Education's policy committee to overhaul its entire policy manual.

"Our policy manual has not been updated in over a decade," McCarthy said. "We have to get into a pattern of looking at policies. Now we have a policy that says we have to review policies."

The committee revamped a number of its student policies over the past spring and summer and implemented them at the beginning of the school year.

Schools Superintendent Thomas L. Seidenberger commended the committee for its undertaking.

"This is a mammoth job," Seidenberger said. "And the committee did this in a very economical and efficient manner."

Council President Stephen C. Acropolis also praised the board and the committee for its work.

"What we're seeing are active board of education members being proactive and ahead of the curve," he said.

Public comment and a vote on the bylaws will take place during the board's pre-agenda meeting tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the Brick Township High School Library.