Gov. Phil Murphy signed several bills into law Dec. 31, 2024, including the following legislation that affects boards of education:
New Laws
Temporary Relief for Posting Public Notices S-3957/A-5151 (P.L.2024, c.106) provides that a newspaper eligible to be used by a public body in 2024 for the purpose of complying with the Open Public Meetings Act or other public notice or legal advertisement requirement, including for providing adequate notice of a meeting, and being designated as an official newspaper, is deemed eligible for the same purposes from Jan. 1, 2025, to March 1, 2025, regardless of the physical or digital format for the newspaper’s publication. Additionally, the law prohibits newspaper publishers from charging more for digital postings than the prices already set in statute for print publications.
This law is in direct response to the October announcement from the Star-Ledger, the Times of Trenton, the South Jersey Times and the Hunterdon County Democrat that they would be ceasing their print publications in early 2025. As boards of education begin the reorganization process at the start of 2025, they may now consider posting public meeting notices on an online version of a newspaper’s publication if that newspaper met the requirements for posting public notices in 2024.
The New Jersey School Boards Association testified in support of the bill during committee deliberations. At the December 2024 meeting of the NJSBA Delegate Assembly, the Association adopted new policy language in support of permitting boards of education to “publish all public meeting notices and requisite reference materials through electronic media in lieu of publication in physical newspapers.” In its testimony, the NJSBA expressed its appreciation that the Legislature worked quickly to resolve this urgent issue, but also stressed the importance of creating a longer-term solution that would allow boards of education to continue complying with the Open Public Meetings Act as the newspaper media landscape continues to evolve.
Given that the newly signed law only covers posting requirements until March 1, the NJSBA will continue to advocate for a long-term solution and will share updates about any future changes to such requirements.
Rescheduling Primary Election Day A-5152/S-3965 (P.L.2024, c.107) reschedules the June 3, 2025, primary to June 10, 2025 (the following Tuesday), to accommodate a period of religious observance. The law requires the secretary of state to inform all county clerks, county boards of election, superintendents of elections, municipal clerks and members of the public of the rescheduled primary election day no later than Jan. 7, 2025.
The NJSBA monitored the bill due to its relevancy to school buildings serving as polling locations.
To view the full text of any of the bills summarized above, please visit the New Jersey Legislature’s website.
