Let’s start with the highlights of the agenda first, then we’ll move onto some of the concerns that arose in connection to the practices surrounding it’s publication.
The Superintendent’s report will include a student report, enrollment update, recognition of an AP Honor Roll Gold Award, and discussion about the 2027–2028 school calendar.
The Board will honor Bernadette Cuccaro (12 years of Service)and Joseph F. Walsh (9 years of Service) on the NP BOE.
Financial action items include….
-12/2025 Board Secretary and Treasurer reports
-01/2026 bill payments totaling $5,664,001.33
-Acceptance of Donations
Facilities items include…
-Application for a $75,000 Local Recreation Improvement Grant to replace north court playground equipment at Allen W. Roberts School, with the required match expected to be covered through donations and fundraising.
-Contract for HVAC upgrades at the High/Middle School totaling $888,000.
-Reccommendation to reject of all bids for HVAC upgrades at Allen W. Roberts and Salt Brook as the lowest bids exceeded available referendum funds and the projected budget.
So this is where it stops because I couldn’t find any attachments.
While the meeting covers millions in taxpayer spending, the process behind the agenda’s publication raises some serious transparency concerns. The agenda was published just 24 hours before the meeting. While the District may point to its ‘Annual Notice’ as having met its basic meeting dates, the law requires the agenda be disclosed 48 hours in advance ‘to the extent known.’
In a series of emails I exchanged with the New Providence School District today, the Board Secretary wrote that the Board receives their packets on Tuesday afternoons, and the District intentionally waits until Wednesday afternoon to post them for the public.
This ‘practice’ of a private 24-hour head start for Board members directly undermines the New Jersey Supreme Court’s mandate that public bodies provide ‘as much knowledge as possible’ to the citizens they serve.
The whole point of OPMA is to prevent “private advantage” for insiders.
Additionally, the New Jersey Legislature is currently moving to outlaw exactly this kind of delay. Senate Bill 1330, introduced just last week, would specifically mandate the 48-hour ‘full agenda’ posting that New Providence is currently choosing to bypass.
Then there’s the lack of attachments ( the $5.6M bill list or the $888k HVAC contract) which means residents are asked to trust the Board’s summary without seeing the actual documents. The agenda lists they are on file in the Business Office but that means that within a 24 hour period, a resident who wants to understand the details will need to review the agenda and get to the Business office in enough time to review the attachments.
Why in the world would these not be made available along with the agenda online?
nj21st has formally asked the District to modernize these practices to align with state law and 2026 digital transparency standards. We will be following this closely in the coming months.
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