Ineligible School Board Member Quit in Nov.

A recently resigned member of the Morris School District Board of Education has been declared ineligible to serve by the state Department of Education because she failed to complete a required criminal background investigation.

Superintendent of Schools Thomas Ficarra said, however, that Sandra McNeil had told the administration of her decision to step down from the Board in November, making filing of a criminal background check unnecessary.

McNeil was on the 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.

McNeil would be required to vacate her position immediately, according to state Dept. of Education spokesperson Allison Kobus. However, she voluntarily stepped down, officials have said due to "personal reasons/obligations." Board members were holding interviews for McNeil's potential replacement prior to Monday's Board of Education meeting.

"Sandra McNeil stepped down for her own personal reasons," Ficarra said. "During that timeframe, there was this fingerprinting process going on. If you didn't get fingerprinted, you're ineligible. She never completed the process becaue she was dropping off the board."

Ficarra said officials in Trenton were unaware of McNeil's resignation, and so sent the letter saying she was ineligible to serve.

"Why would you complete the process if you're not going to be on the board anymore," Ficarra said.

McNeil's term was already set to expire in April.

Additional school board members or charter school trustees 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.