The New Jersey School Boards Association’s board of directors met in-person and virtually on Friday, Nov. 4, 2022. President Irene LeFebvre presided over the meeting from the Association’s headquarters in Trenton. Immediate Past President Michael McClure and Vice Presidents Tammeisha Smith and Dr. Karen Cortellino also participated in the meeting from Association headquarters. Vice President Bruce Young was not present. Executive Director Dr. Timothy J. Purnell provided his report to the board from headquarters.
The board of directors approved the following items:
- NJSBA’s 2021-2022 annual audit report.
- Open session minutes of the Sept. 23, 2022, board of directors meeting.
- Legislative Committee appointments.
- At-large appointments to the NJSBA 2022-2024 Nominating Committee.
Executive Director’s Report Purnell addressed NJSBA activities, and the progress made in enabling school districts to meet challenges, including those of the public health crisis, ensuring that members continue to benefit from essential training, advocacy and direct service.
Workshop 2022 By the Numbers Workshop was held in-person in Atlantic City for the first time in three years and was a great success. Some six thousand attendees came to Workshop. There were 351 vendors and 68 sponsors. There were more than 275 training programs and 530 members who completed mandated training courses at Workshop. There was a total of 519 dozen cookies. There were 14 student performances and 12 therapy dogs over the course of two days. Workshop financial numbers will be provided at the Jan. 27 meeting.
Financial Report NJSBA has collected 99.9% of the annual dues for the 2022-2023 fiscal year. There are two districts that have not paid, but NJSBA has received purchase orders from both and expects payment in the near future.
NJSBA’s independent audit for fiscal year 2021-2022 reflects positively on the Association’s business and financial operations and was unanimously approved by the board of directors.
A Dues Formula Committee has been formed and is being chaired by Smith, vice president for finance. The purpose of this committee is to review the current NJSBA dues formula, determine its appropriateness and make any recommendations for changes or updates. The committee includes 11 board members and a few NJSBA staff. One meeting has been held so far, with another meeting scheduled for next week. Any changes in the dues formula would need to be approved by the NJSBA Delegate Assembly.
Delegate Assembly The NJSBA Delegate Assembly will take place on Saturday, Nov. 19 at the Conference Center at Mercer County Community College beginning at 9 a.m. One resolution has been filed and there will be proposed readoption to NJSBA Bylaws and policies to be considered. Only delegates attending the meeting in-person will have the ability to speak and vote.
NJSBA’s “Situation Room” Purnell discussed a new process he has instituted at NJSBA and how it worked in a specific situation. The idea of the Situation Room is to quickly gather a variety of lenses to discuss time-sensitive situations with the goal of coming up with deliverables for members. Deliverables might include talking points, informational resources, sample board resolutions or other services. The first Situation Room convened in early October to discuss the Murphy’s administration’s proposal to create a Statewide Student Support Network in the state, which could potentially affect the current School Based Youth Services program. It was decided that NJSBA would send out a blast email alerting members to the fact that they could comment on this proposal as they only had a short time to do so. NJSBA also sent comments to the New Jersey Department of Education.
Strategic Plan Progress 2022 An extensive report on the progress toward achieving the objectives of the 2022-2024 Strategic Plan was provided to the board, and Purnell highlighted how one of the objectives of the strategic plan was addressed. The strategic plan survey of members last year indicated that members wanted more training and information on how to interpret and use data in their work. NJSBA published an in-depth guide to reading the NJDOE’s School Performance Reports and how to mine the NJDOE data to learn about topics such as staff, spending, curriculum and demographic trends and how to compare your district to neighboring districts. The Labor Relations Department also produced a webinar on how to use comparative data at the bargaining table when your district is in negotiations. These resources are available on the NJSBA website. In addition, Workshop featured four programs specifically focused on how to analyze and use data.
The board of directors also received reports from the president, vice president for county activities, vice president for finance, vice president for legislation/resolutions, and immediate past president, and detailed reports from NJSBA staff on advocacy and legislation.
Information items included association financials, a legal case summary, a member dues update for 2022-2023, an NJSBA Delegate Assembly update, and written reports from officers.