If a Board attorney wasn’t asked to attend all regular
meetings while she was on salary, why would she be asked to attend while
billing $160/hour?
If attendance wasn’t necessary over the last three
years, why would it be necessary now?
In recent months, some Board members were reliant on
getting legal advice from the New Jersey School Board’s Association and from the
School Ethics Commission. Neither billed
$160/hour. Both provided the correct opinions.
Board members sought legal advice outside of Lodi
after receiving the wrong advice on the superintendent’s contract negotiations,
“resumes”, and voting on a Board member’s removal. Click on the links below:
A review of attorney invoices show that there is an
overlap of the work provided by the two Board attorneys. Each is now billing $160/hour.
Some Board members and administrators have used the board
attorneys as though they are personal attorneys. The district has been wrongfully billed.
Invoices also show that the attorneys are billing for
work that does not need to be done by lawyers.
A lot of the work can be done by secretaries in district. A lot of the work is nothing more than googling
or searching advisory opinions posted by the School Ethics Commission or
locating other information that is readily available on the Department of
Education website or from the NJSBA.
The Lodi taxpayers are hurting. A Board should not be looking for ways to
drive legal costs at the taxpayers’ expense.
