The Assembly on Feb. 22 gave final legislative approval to “special session” bills that would create powerful executive county superintendents and would reform public employee pensions and health benefits. 

'Super' Superintendent A-4 passed the Assembly by only one vote.  It would create 21 executive county superintendents with far-reaching authority over local school district spending.  The politically appointed officials would devise plans to eliminate send-all, or non-operating, school districts and would propose the restructuring of all districts into kindergarten through grade 12 systems.  

NJSBA opposes A-4. 

Several lawmakers, including Assemblyman Jon Brammick (R-Union) and Richard Merkt (R-Morris), spoke out against the bill prior to the vote. 

A-4 now goes to Gov. Jon S. Corzine for his approval. 

Benefits Reform  S-17, the pension and benefits reform bill, also passed the Assembly on Feb. 22. 

Provisions of S-17, along with those of another bill, A-1 (the property tax cap and credit bill), would give local school districts that participate in the State Health Benefits Program the ability to negotiate cost-control strategies with employees.  These provisions would: 

• Permit employee contributions to premium. (A-1)
  
  
• Allow school districts to offer employees incentives to waive duplicate coverage. (S-17)
  
  
• Allow variations in levels of coverage for different classifications of employees, based on date of initial employment, salary and other factors. (A-1) 

In December, a coalition of public employer organizations, including NJSBA, sent a letter to Corzine seeking his support for the reforms. 

Property Tax Cap Meanwhile, A-1, which would create 4 percent property tax caps on school, municipal and fire district budgets, still awaits approval from the governor. The bill also would provide residents with property tax credits, funded through part of the new revenue generated by last year’s 1-cent sales tax increase. 

NJSBA has urged the governor to delay implementation of the property tax cap provisions of the bill.

Court: Students Must Be Safeguarded from Harassment in Schools

The New Jersey Supreme Court issued a ruling this week that a district may be held liable for sexual harassment based on a student’s actual or perceived sexual orientation. The court ruled that a school district is liable for such harassment when it knows or should have known of the harassment, but failed to take reasonable actions to end the mistreatment and offensive conduct.

In L.W. vs. Toms River Regional Board of Education, a student was subjected to taunts by his schoolmates on the basis of his perceived homosexuality. The taunting started in fourth grade and continued through to his freshman year, culminating in incidents of physical assault against L.W., who then transferred to another school. The perpetrators of these various incidents over the years were subjected to a variety of disciplinary measures, including suspensions for up to 10 days.  

L.W. sued the district alleging it violated the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination because it failed to take reasonable steps to end the sexual harassment. He also alleged that the district denied him the “accommodations, advantages, facilities or privileges” of the school, based on his perceived sexual orientation which is a violation of the law.

Districts May Be Held Liable The court determined that school districts must take prudent measures to end harassment in schools. Similar to employees in a workplace, students are entitled to an educational environment that also is free from hostility. The court noted that not every schoolyard taunt is actionable under the state’s Law Against Discrimination. The plaintiff would have to show that the school district failed to reasonably address such conduct. 

The Supreme Court found that the student could allege a violation of the Law Against Discrimination and therefore, sent the case back to the Division of Civil Rights, where it began. The Division of Civil Rights will continue further fact finding to determine if the district took necessary and reasonable actions to end the harassment.

What Does This Mean for Districts? Since the inception of this case, additional laws have been enacted requiring districts to have policies that address bullying and harassment. Districts should review their anti- bullying, harassment and discrimination policies, with their board attorney. Boards are encouraged to contact NJSBA’s Legal and Policy Services for sample policies at (888) 888-NJSBA ext. 5222.