Bill Would Eliminate Year Notice for Superintendent

Bill Would Eliminate Year Notice for Superintendent

The Assembly Education Committee on Monday released a bill that would abolish the one-year notice that school boards are required to provide superintendents if the board decides not to renew the contract.

NJSBA supports A-1113, saying it would give school boards greater flexibility in making their most critical staffing decision.

By state law, school superintendent contracts run for three to five years, and a school board must notify a superintendent a full year in advance of its intention not to renew the contract. If the one-year notice is not given, the superintendent is deemed reappointed for another contract term of the same duration as the previous contract.

Eliminating the one-year notice would provide the school board with additional time to evaluate the superintendent’s performance before it must decide whether to renew the contract. In turn, the superintendent would have more time to become established as the district’s educational leader and to achieve progress toward the district’s goals.

The bill would continue to require written notification to the superintendent prior to the expiration of the contract in the event that the board determines not to reappoint him or her. The bill now heads to the full Assembly.

Compulsory Education In related news, the Assembly Education Committee on Monday also released a bill (Assembly Committee Substitute for A-1209/A-375/A-1759) that would raise the age of compulsory school attendance from 16 to 18 years old. While NJSBA applauds the goal of attempting to keep students in school, it has raised issues that students who truly do not want to be in school would not necessarily receive an effective education, and could undermine the education of students who do want to learn.

State Board Appeals The committee also released A-45, a bill that would eliminate the State Board of Education from the appeals process. NJSBA argued that the State Board serves a quasi-court function in matters decided by the education commissioner, which prevents many cases from going directly to the courts, and keeps down districts’ legal costs.