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Home › Board Office › Board Policies › ATTORNEY

ATTORNEY

FILE CODE: 9126
Monitored
Mandated
Other Reasons

The board of education shall appoint an attorney to serve as counsel to the board for a period commencing with the reorganization meeting, and ending on the date of the following reorganization meeting.

The board shall fix the annual retainer fee authorizing an hourly rate.  Legal fees for services rendered above and beyond the terms and conditions of the board and the board attorney shall be compensated separately if the appointment is based upon a retainer.

The board attorney shall be chief legal advisor of the board of education and shall perform all legal services required for the school district. He/she is the legal representative of the board on all matters that come before the board, In addition he/she shall:

A. Attend any regularly scheduled meetings of the board and other meetings as may be required by the president and the superintendent.

B. Furnish legal advice and render legal opinions to the board when so requested by the board president, superintendent, or board secretary/school business administrator and provide advice to the chairperson of personnel, negotiations, principals, supervisors, and other members of the staff as designated by the superintendent and through his/her office;

C. Advise the board of significant changes in school law, rules of the state board of education, decisions of the commissioner of education, and decisions of the state and federal courts;

D. Prepare such resolutions for presentation to the board as may be requested by the board president and superintendent;

E. When requested, review contracts, bonds, legal notices, and other documents to which the board is a party or in which the board has an interest;

F. Serve as legal representative of the board in all contested matters;

G. Be evaluated by the full board annually;

H. Review policies for legality prior to board adoption.

Any board member or officer or employee of this district who wishes a formal or extensive legal opinion on board business must apply to the board attorney through the board president, superintendent, or board secretary/school business administrator.

The attorney is available to represent the board in the contract negotiations process.

Date: December 18, 1989
NJSBA Review/Update: January 2008
Readopted: April 14, 2008

Key Words

Attorney, Legal, Legal Counsel, Legal Fees