RESOLUTION OF THE LENAPE REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF EDUCATION TO JOIN IN THE FILING OF AN OPEN PUBLIC RECORDS ACT REQUEST WITH, AND POSSIBLE FUTURE RELATED LITIGATION AGAINST, THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY CONCERNING THE CALCULATION AND ALLOCATION OF STATE AID
WHEREAS, the School Funding Reform Act of 2008 (SFRA), N.J.S.A. 18A:7F-1 et seq., reflects the current New Jersey law that governs State Aid to public school districts; and
WHEREAS, the State of New Jersey (State) has appropriated limited monies to fund such State Aid for public school districts; and
WHEREAS, the State arbitrarily determines how much State Aid to allocate to each school district, without regard to district need or ability to pay; and
WHEREAS, the Lenape Regional High School District is receiving substantially less State Aid than it otherwise should receive; and
WHEREAS, such disparate treatment is neither “equal” nor “equitable” and is without a rational basis; and
WHEREAS, the State should be transparent in how it calculates and allocates State Aid to each school district; and
WHEREAS, to protect the interests of its school children, each school district is entitled to obtain data and records from the State as to how the State calculates and allocates State Aid to each school district; and
WHEREAS, the Lenape Regional High School District Board of Education (the “Board”) believes that it is in the best interests of its residents, taxpayers, and school children to file an Open Public Records Act request with, and if subsequently determined necessary, related litigation against, the State of New Jersey, Department of Education and the Commissioner of Education (and such other parties as may be appropriate) for data and records as to how the State calculates and allocates State Aid to each school district.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board hereby joins in the filing of the attached Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request at no cost to the Board; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that in the event the OPRA request is denied, the Board may subsequently elect join in the litigation against the State of New Jersey, Department of Education and the Commissioner of Education to obtain data and records from the State of New Jersey and its various Departments as to how the State calculates and allocates State Aid to each school district (“OPRA Litigation”); and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Weiner Law Group, LLP (“Special Counsel”) is hereby appointed for the limited purposes of representing the Board in connection with the filing of the OPRA request jointly with other involved public school districts, and the potential future OPRA Litigation in connection with that OPRA request, if the Board elects to join in the OPRA Litigation; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that in the event that the Board elects to join in the OPRA Litigation, the Board hereby authorizes the Lenape Regional High School District Administration to cooperate with the Special Counsel to effectuate the Board’s role in the OPRA Litigation; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that in the event that the Board elects to join in the OPRA Litigation, the Special Counsel’s fee for that representation shall be limited to $1,000.00, which represents the Board’s full share of the fees and costs associated with the OPRA Litigation, not including the cost of a subsequent appeal should that occur and should the Board elect to join in that appeal, pursuant to a retention letter to be executed between the Board and Special Counsel.
OPEN PUBLIC RECORDS ACT/COMMON LAW REQUEST
Please provide the following public record(s):
1. For each school year (beginning with the 2008/2009 school year, up to and including the 2019/2020 school year), provide the record(s), which reflect the calculations used to determine the Statewide (1) Property Value Rate and (2) Income Rate set forth in NJSA 18A:7F-52(c). Record(s) responsive to this request should include all numerical inputs and outputs for the calculations set forth in NJSA 18A:7F-52(c).
2. For each school year (beginning with the 2008/2009 school year, up to and including the 2019/2020 school year), provide the record(s), which reflect the calculations used to establish the Property Value Rate where equalization aid equals the Statewide available equalization aid for all districts determined according to the School Funding Reform Act had each school district’s local share equaled the product of the property value rate and the district’s equalized valuation and each county vocational school district’s local share equaled the product of the county vocational school district’s adequacy budget and the average local share, expressed as a percent, of the school districts located in the county. Record(s) responsive to this request should include all numerical inputs and outputs for the calculations set forth in NJSA 18A:7F-52(c).
3. For each school year (beginning with the 2008/2009 school year, up to and including the 2019/2020 school year), provide the record(s), which reflect the calculations used to establish the Income Rate where equalization aid equals the Statewide available equalization aid for all districts determined according to this act had each school district’s local share equaled the product of the income rate and the district’s income and each county vocational school district’s local share equaled the product of the county vocational school district’s adequacy budget and the average local share, expressed as a percent, of the school districts located in the county. Record(s) responsive to this request should include all numerical inputs and outputs for the calculations set forth in NJSA 18A:7F-52(c).
4. For each school year (beginning with the 2008/2009 school year, up to and including the 2019/2020 school year), provide the record(s), which reflect the calculations for Property Value Rate and Income Rate where the calculations did not result in equalization aid for all districts being equal to the Statewide available equalization aid. Record(s) responsive to this request should include all numerical inputs and outputs for the calculations set forth in NJSA 18A:7F-52(c).
5. In regards to requests 1 through 4 (above), if a computer program/software is utilized, please provide record(s) (beginning with the 2008/2009 school year, up to and including the 2019/2020 school year) detailing the algorithms or program coding used to compute the data.
6. For each school year (beginning with the 2008/2009 school year, up to and including the 2019/2020 school year), provide all adjustments made to the calculation of equalization aid (as calculated by N.J.S.A. 18A:7F-53) when EQAID (equalization aid) is less than zero. Please provide these record(s) for all school districts to which EQAID was calculated to be less than zero.
7. For each school year (beginning with the 2008/2009 school year, up to and including the 2019/2020 school year), provide the State Aid Notice(s) for each school district in New Jersey. Record(s) responsive to this request should include all “revised” notices as well.