The “super” county superintendent and the November election proposals are not the only bills from the Legislature’s special session on property tax reform that could affect schools.

The following measures passed the Assembly and still could be acted on by the Senate:

Accountability/Training A-5 would expand the commissioner of education’s authority to intervene in school district business operations and would give her the ability to appoint a state monitor under certain conditions. It also would expand mandatory training for new school board members and would require reelected and reappointed members to complete advanced training.

The bill would require plain-language wording of budget advertisements, creating “user-friendly” presentations of school financial information. It also would require school districts to get the education commissioner’s approval and to hold a public hearing before buying out a superintendent’s contract.

Status: A-5 passed the Assembly on Dec. 11. The Senate version was not addressed on Dec. 14, but could still be posted for a vote in January.

Pilot County District A-8 would establish a 5-year pilot program under which the state Department of Education would organize one county administrative school district. Selection of the pilot county would result from a recommendation by the commissioner of education or application by the county board of chosen freeholders. The pilot county school district would be governed by a board of education appointed by the freeholder director or county executive; current local district administrative functions would be concentrated at the county level. Local school boards in the pilot counties would be replaced by advisory panels. As the bill is now written, 11 of the state’s 21 counties would be eligible for the pilot program.

Status: A-8 passed the Assembly on Dec. 11. It was placed before the Senate on Dec. 14, but pulled from consideration before a final vote was tallied. The bill could appear on the Senate’s agenda in the future.

NJSBA position: NJSBA has several concerns about the bill: The impact of the pilot program on educational services; the inability of local school districts in the pilot county to return to local governance if the experiment fails; and the fact that neither voters nor local school boards would have a voice in authorizing the pilot county school district.

‘Base Closing’ Approach A-15 would create a commission to review consolidation and shared services among municipalities, fire districts, and other taxing districts, and establish measures for local government efficiency, similar to the federal military base realignment and closure panel. Although the commission would not recommend consolidation of school districts per se, any merger of municipalities could affect school district boundaries.