Morris School District
MORRIS SCHOOL DISTRICT
Morristown, New Jersey 07960

Policy
File Code: 9321
Monitored:
Mandated:
Other Reasons X
TIME, PLACE, NOTIFICATION OF MEETINGS

Regular meetings of the Board of Education shall be held on dates and at times and places determined by the Board at its annual organization meeting. Special meetings shall be called by the Board Secretary at the request of the President or upon a petition signed by a majority of the Board Members, and shall commence no later than 8 p.m.

Adequate Notice

Adequate notice shall be given for all regular meetings and for special meetings whenever possible. Adequate notice generally means written advance notice of at least 48 hours, giving the time, date and location, and, to the extent known, the agenda of the meeting. The notice must state whether formal action may or may not be taken at the meeting. The notice must be:
  1. Prominently posted in at least one public place reserved for such announcements;

  2. Communicated to at least two newspapers designated by the Board because they have the greatest likelihood of informing the Board's public; and

  3. Filed with the clerk of the municipality.
The Board of Education may hold a meeting without providing adequate public notice if:
  1. Three-quarters of the members present vote to do so; and

  2. The meeting is required to deal with matters of such urgency and importance that delay would be likely to result in substantial harm to the public interest; and

  3. The meeting will be limited to discussion of and action on these matters; and

  4. Notice of such meeting is provided as soon as possible following the calling of such meeting; and

    1. Either the Board could not reasonably have foreseen the need for such meeting at a time when adequate notice could have been provided; or

    2. The need could have been foreseen in time but the Board failed to give adequate notice.
Announcement of Adequate Notice

At the beginning of every meeting, the presiding officer must announce that adequate notice of the meeting was provided and must specify the time, place and manner in which the notice was provided. However, if adequate notice was not provided, the presiding officer must say so, and in addition, must state:
  1. The nature of the matter of urgency or importance for which the meeting without adequate notice was called; and

  2. The nature of the substantial harm to the public interest likely to result from a delay in holding the meeting; and

  3. That the meeting will be limited to discussion of and action on such matters of urgency and importance; and

  4. The time, place, and manner in which some notice of the meeting was provided; and

  5. Either of the following:

    1. That the need for such meeting could not reasonably have been foreseen at a time when adequate notice could have been provided, and why this was so; or

    2. That such need could reasonably have been foreseen in time for adequate notice, but nevertheless such notice was not provided, and the reasons why.
Annual Notice

Annual notice of the year's regular meeting schedule must be posted publicly and sent to at least two newspapers and the municipal clerk within seven days following the annual organization meeting. This notice should contain the location of each meeting to the extent it is known as well as the time and date. If the schedule is revised at all, notice must be given within seven days of the revision.

The annual schedule serves as sufficient notice of any regularly scheduled meeting as long as it contains the proper date and location. If most meetings are on a regularly scheduled basis, whether they are formal sessions or study sessions, the notice requirement can be largely met through the once-a-year schedule.Both the annual schedule of meetings, any revisions to that schedule, and notices of any additional meetings must be sent to any person upon request and upon prepayment of a sum set by the Board. Requests to be on the mailing list for notices can be made on an annual basis and are renewable each reorganization meeting.

Adjournment

The Board may at any time recess or adjourn to an adjourned meeting at a specified date and place. The adjourned meeting shall take up its business at the point in the agenda where the motion to adjourn was acted upon.

Date: April 14, 1986
Revised: May 15, 2000
Second Reading: July 18, 2000

Legal References:
N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 et seq. Open Public Meetings Act
N.J.S.A. 18A:10-3(b) First regular meeting of board
N.J.S.A. 18A:10-4 Secretary to give notice of meeting
N.J.S.A. 18A:10-5 Organization meeting as business meeting
N.J.S.A. 18A:10-6 Board meetings public; frequency; hours of commencement; adjournment, etc., for lack of quorum
N.J.A.C. 6:3-1.2 Special meetings of district boards of education

Possible Cross References:
*1120 Board of education meetings
*2240 Research, evaluation and planning
*Indicates policy is included in the Critical Policy Reference Manual.
 

Morris School District | 31 Hazel Street | Morristown, New Jersey | Phone: 973-292-2300
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