CODE: 9326.1
SECTION: BYLAWS OF THE BOARD
OPEN PUBLIC MEETINGS ACT
WHEREAS, New Jersey courts have articulated that the Open Public Meetings Act (N.J.S.A. 10:4-6, et al.) must be interpreted to promote the salutary legislative purpose of requiring governmental bodies to conduct their business in public, and the stated statutory exemptions must be strictly construed; and
WHEREAS, the West Milford Board of Education (the “Board”) agrees that its doors should be opened widely so that the public can satisfy itself that the Board is conducting itself in an appropriate and efficient manner consistent with the Open Public Meetings Act,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that effective immediately, whenever the Board excludes the public from its meetings in accordance with N.J.S.A. 10:4-12b, the resolution required by N.J.S.A. 10:4-13 shall describe the topics discussed during the nonpublic portion of the meeting in as much detail as possible (e.g., the parties to the negotiation or litigation discussed) without compromising the N.J.S.A. 10:4-12b exception; and it is further
RESOLVED, that effective immediately, whenever the Board excludes the public from its meetings in accordance with N.J.S.A. 10:4-12b, it shall make public versions of the minutes of those closed meetings, redacted only to the extent necessary to protect the public interest, available to the public no later than six weeks thereafter, absent exigent circumstances; and it is further
RESOLVED, that within three months from the effective date of this resolution, the Board shall prepare, for each closed meeting held since January 1, 2000, public versions of the minutes of those meetings, redacted only to the extent necessary to protect the public interest as permitted by law; and it is further
RESOLVED, that for each element redacted, the public version of the closed meeting minutes shall include a statement setting forth as specifically as possible (e.g., the parties to negotiation or litigation discussed), the reason for the redaction; and it is further
RESOLVED, that the Board shall at least annually, or more frequently at the discretion of the Board Secretary or at the request of a public citizen, determine whether and the extent to which the public versions of outstanding closed-session minutes, due the passage of time or intervening events, can be updated to disclose previously redacted material, the outcome of such reviews being recorded in the Board’s public meeting minutes; and it is further
RESOLVED, that these public versions, promptly updated as necessary, of closed meeting minutes shall be maintained in book form, along with the Board’s open session minutes, in the Board Secretary’s Office and the West Milford Public Library, where they shall be readily available for inspection by any person; and it is further
RESOLVED, that the instant resolution be and hereby is adopted as Board policy, to be maintained in the Board’s Policy Manual.
First Reading: July 26, 2005
Adopted: July 26, 2005