Hawthorne Board adopts 2026 organizational resolutions, appoints officers and designees
Summary
The Hawthorne Board of Education unanimously adopted a package of organizational resolutions (R6–R47) covering the code of ethics, meeting dates, appointments, and vendor/designations for 2026; trustees clarified a contract date and approved a case-specific attorney appointment.
The Hawthorne Board of Education on Jan. 6 adopted a slate of organizational resolutions that set the district’s governance and administrative appointments for the 2026 year, including a code of ethics and a series of professional and fiduciary designees.
The omnibus motion—covering R6 through R47—was approved by roll call vote with all trustees present voting yes; one trustee had been recorded absent earlier in the meeting. R6 enacts the board code of ethics, citing New Jersey Statutes Annotated 18A:12-24.1, effective Jan. 6, 2026 through Jan. 5, 2027. The code, read into the record, requires trustees to ‘‘uphold and enforce all laws, regulation rules and regulations of the state board of education’’ and to act in the educational welfare of children.
The resolutions also name official meeting dates (R7), adopt the bylaws and policy manual (R8), designate the official newspaper and bank depositories (R9–R10), and list appointments including an alternate board secretary (R13), representatives to the Northeast Bergen County School Board Insurance Group (R14), purchasing agent and public agency compliance officer (R16–R17), and a roster of department designees tied to the director of facilities (R30). R30 specifies designees for asbestos management, indoor air quality, integrated pest management, right-to-know, chemical hygiene and related facilities roles for Hawthorne Public Schools for the 2026 term.
Trustees raised two procedural clarifications during discussion. One trustee asked whether dates listed for R15 (award of contract for risk manager) reflected the correct contract term; the clerk and trustees confirmed the contract began in 2020 and the record should indicate an end in 2026 rather than 2025, and that correction was noted before the vote. Another trustee asked whether R47 (attorney appointment) applied broadly; the board clarified that R47 covered a specific circumstance in which the district referred a matter to an outside firm because of a conflict with the firm Fogarty and that the single-case appointment still required board approval.
The omnibus motion passed on a roll call vote. No dissenting votes were recorded in the roll call sequence read aloud at the meeting.
The board also approved procedural items including petty cash and internal controls for the 2025–26 school year, and made a series of contract and committee appointments to take effect in the coming year.
