July 27, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 5 Mahwah Background check costs will be covered by board by Frank J. McMahon The Mahwah Board of Education has authorized the reimbursement of individual trustees for the cost of the criminal history background investigations required by the passage of New Jersey Assembly and Senate bills A-444 and S-295, which were signed into law on May 26. That new law disqualifies members of boards of education or members of charter school boards of trustees from serving in office if they have been convicted of certain crimes. The statute also requires school trustees to undergo criminal history background checks and to pay the cost of such investigations. However, the new state law permits local boards of education to reimburse individual members for the cost of criminal history background investigations, while another state law (NJSA 18A:12-4) prohibits the compensation of local board of education members. In a resolution passed by the Mahwah Board of Education in June, the school board explained that trustees devote significant time and substantial effort to the governance of the district’s public schools. The resolution stated that individual school board members, who are uncompensated, should be reimbursed for the cost the criminal history background investigations, which are necessary to continue service in office. The board of education, therefore, added language to its bylaw, “Qualifications and Requirements of Board Members,” that indicates that within 30 days of an individual’s election or appointment to the board, that individual must undergo a criminal history background check for the purpose of ensuring that the member is not disqualified for membership due to a conviction of a crime or offense pursuant to the recently enacted statute. The updated bylaw also states that the board must reimburse the trustee for the cost of the criminal history record check, includ- The Mahwah Regional Chamber of Commerce will hold an evening of informative seminars and a business card exchange on July 26 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the new Crowne Plaza Hotel & Conference Center, 3 Executive Boulevard in Suffern, New York. Participants may register for their choice of educational seminar (all seminars run from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.). Topics will include cloud computing, enterprise social media, and website design. The business card exchange will follow. The cost for Chamber members for both the seminar and the business card exchange is $35. The cost is $50 for nonmembers. The fee for the business card exchange only is $15 for members and $30 for non-members. Registration is Chamber schedules events For That Special Event required. To learn more about the seminars, visit www.mahwah.com. The Chamber will host a free meet and greet on Thursday, July 28 from 8 to 10 a.m., hosted by MRCC’s 2011 Corporate Sponsor TD Bank. The event will take place in the Atrium of TD Bank’s corporate offices at 535 East Crescent Avenue in Ramsey. Refreshments will be served. All attendees will have the opportunity to introduce themselves to the group. Chamber members may bring their promotional materials and literature for the display on the information table. There is no cost to attend the event, but pre-registration is encouraged. For reservations, visit mahwah.com or call the Chamber office at (201) 5295566. ��� ing all costs for administering and processing the check. The resolution was confirmed at a recent meeting of the board. The bill requiring the background checks was introduced in the New Jersey Assembly in January 2010 with five primary sponsors and 27 co-sponsors. It was referred to the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee and was passed by the Assembly by a vote of 80-0 with no abstentions. The bill then went to the New Jersey Senate. After being amended, the bill was passed in December 2010 by a 36-0 vote. The bill passed both houses of the legislature in February 2011, but was conditionally vetoed by Governor Chris Christie in early May, after which both houses concurred with the governor’s recommendations and passed the bill on May 23. The measure became public law on May 26. ��������������� ��������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������������������������� �������������������������� ������ ���� �������������������������������� ��������������� ������������ See our website for coupons-������������������������ �������������������������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������� ���������������������