One East Windsor School Board Member Declared Ineligible

One member of the East Windsor Regional Board of Education has been declared ineligible to serve by the state Department of Education because he failed to complete a required criminal background investigation.

Board of Education Vice President Kennedy Paul was on a list released Thursday by the New Jersey Department of Education of 186 school board members and charter school trustees statewide who did not complete the background exam by the Dec. 31 deadline.
 
The school board members must vacate their positions immediately, according to state Dept. of Education spokesperson Allison Kobus.

East Windsor Regional School District Superintendent Edward Forsthoffer said last week members were asked if they had completed the check, and Paul had not.

Paul recused himself from Monday's Board of Education meeting, and is scheduled to complete the check Friday, Forsthoffer said.

Official notification from the state was not given to the district until Tuesday, Forsthoffer said.

Additional school board members may yet have to forfeit their positions, according to Kobus. Some board members or trustees filled out the forms improperly or failed to pay the required fee, she said in a news release.

The background checks were required by the New Jersey general assembly in legislation passed last year, to require school board members and charter school trustees to meet the same standards required of school teachers. If board members or trustees show up for meetings, they could be charged with a fourth degree crime.

New Jersey is apparently the only state to require the background examinations.