Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Jerry Green and Assembly Education Chairman Patrick J. Diegnan Jr. on Friday asked the state’s acting education commissioner to extend the deadline for compliance with the new criminal background check law for school board members.
”While we firmly stand behind this law and its intention, we are concerned about reports regarding the implementation of the law,” wrote Assemblymen Green and Diegnan. “It appears that some board members who have not yet complied were unaware of the requirements and the deadlines for compliance. Additionally, some were unable to comply based on the backlogs for fingerprinting.”
Mr. Green and Mr. Diegnan encouraged acting Commissioner Christopher Cerf “to provide flexibility to individual board members who request additional time to comply.”
”The purpose of the law is to protect our children from board of education members with a criminal history, not to remove dedicated members who did not comply in a timely manner,” Mr. Green and Mr. Diegnan wrote.
Each member of any board of education, within 30 days of election or appointment to that board, must undergo a criminal history background investigation to ensure that the member is not disqualified from membership due to a conviction of a crime or offense listed in New Jersey Statute 18.
The Commissioner of Education can receive all criminal history data necessary to complete the criminal history records check, and can permanently maintain the criminal record and application documents on a member of a board of education. All documents submitted by a candidate and all criminal history record information shall be maintained by the commissioner in a confidential manner.
Each member of any board of education must be a citizen and resident of the district who has not been convicted of any crime of the first or second degree or crimes and offenses such as: sexual assault; involvement in the use, distribution or manufacturing of drugs; robbery, aggravated assault, stalking, kidnapping, arson, manslaughter or murder; possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes; an offense involving access device; recklessly endangering another person; terroristic threats; criminal restraint; luring or enticing a child into a motor vehicle, structure or isolated area; causing or risking widespread injury or damage; criminal mischief; burglary; usury; threats and other improper influence; perjury and false swearing; resisting arrest; escape; bias intimidation; any crime of the fourth degree involving a victim who is a minor; or conspiracy to commit or an attempt to commit any of these crimes.
