School Ethics Commission
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS REGARDING THE FILING OF SCHOOL ETHICS COMMISSION PERSONAL/RELATIVE AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE STATEMENTS
1. Q: Who is required to file the disclosure statements?
A: All school officials are required to file financial and personal/relative disclosure statements. “School official” means a board member, an employee or officer of the New Jersey School Boards Association, but not including any member of the secretarial or maintenance staff of the association, or an administrator. “Administrator” means any officer, other than a board member, or employee of a local school district who: (i) holds a position which requires a certificate that authorizes the holder to serve as school administrator, principal, or school business administrator; or (ii) holds a position which does not require that the person hold any type of certificate but is responsible for making recommendations regarding hiring or the purchase or acquisition of any property or services by the local school district; or (iii) holds a position which requires a certificate that authorizes the holder to serve as supervisor and who is responsible for making recommendations regarding hiring or the purchase or acquisition of any property or services by the local school district. N.J.S.A. 18A:12-23. These provisions apply to an administrator and member of the board of trustees of a charter school. N.J.S.A. 18A:12-23.1.
2. Q: Do board attorneys have to file disclosure statements?
A: Board attorneys employed by private firms are not school officials required to file disclosure statements. Board attorneys who are employees of the district and who fall within the definition of “administrator” must file the disclosure statements.
3. Q: If a school official serves in more than one district, must s/he file statements in both districts?
A: Yes. While the financial information for that school official will likely be the same, it is possible for the information required by the personal/relative disclosure statement to be different in different districts.
4. Q: Does an interim, per diem school administrator who is not considered an employee of the school district have to file the disclosure statements?
A: Yes, because that person falls within the definition of “administrator” in N.J.S.A. 18A:12-23.
5. Q: What if the interim, per diem, school administrator only serves for a portion of the 2008 calendar year?
A: That person still has to file the disclosure statements because s/he is an administrator during part of the 2008 calendar year.
6. Q: If a school official who was employed in a district or served as a member of a school board in 2007 leaves the district prior to or as of December 2007, should that school official file the disclosure statements on or before April 30, 2008?
A: No. That person is not an employee or school board member during the time period when the disclosure statements are required to be filed.
7. Q: If a school official is employed in a district or serves as a member of a school board in 2008 and leaves the district prior to April 30, 2008, should that school official file the disclosure statements on or before April 30, 2008?
A: Yes, because that person is working in the district during the 2008 calendar year. While the county office should collect this information, it need not be reported to the School Ethics Commission.
8. Q: Does a school official have to file disclosure statements if that school official is on sick leave?
A: Where a school official is on sick leave at the time that s/he would have been required to file, the board secretary should notify the county office that the school official is on sick leave (in the Board Secretary Report), and the school official does not have to file at that time. However, the school official must file the disclosure statements when s/he returns.
9. Q: What happens when the Superintendent or Board Secretary indicates that a school official’s disclosure statements were filed with the county superintendent’s office and the statements are not in the county superintendent’s office?
A: The school official must file another form because disclosure statements are not considered as filed unless the originals are in the county office. To avoid the problem, the disclosure statements should be date-stamped when the school official files them with the Board Secretary.
10. Q: How long does a school district have to retain a record of the disclosure statements? What about the county office?
A: Copies of the disclosure statements which are maintained in the school district must be retained for three years. The originals, which are maintained in the county office must retained for six years.
11. Q. Can the county office accept a faxed copy of the disclosure statements?
A: Disclosure statements are not considered filed until the original is filed with the county office. Thus, faxing the disclosure statements to the county office does not fulfill the requirement to file an original of the disclosure statements with the county office.
12. Q. If a board member is not re-elected, does s/he have to file the disclosure statements?
A: Yes, because that board member has served as a board member during a portion of the 2008 calendar year. While the county office should collect that information, it need not be reported to the School Ethics Commission.
13. Q: Does a board member who was re-elected and filed the disclosure statements prior to the April 30 deadline have to file again after re-election to the board?
A: No. That board member has already fulfilled the requirement to file the disclosure statements.
