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Board approves appointment of outside legal counsel after brief rate discrepancy
Summary
The Hackensack Board of Education voted Feb. 11 to hire outside legal counsel to serve from Feb. 12, 2025, through Jan. 31, 2026; trustees recorded the motion and approved the appointment after discussion and a roll call. Transcript contains conflicting hourly-rate figures; the board approved the contract as read.
The Hackensack Board of Education voted Feb. 11 to appoint outside counsel to represent the district beginning Feb. 12, 2025, through Jan. 31, 2026. Trustee Gilmore moved the resolution and Trustee Pringle seconded; a roll call was taken and the motion passed.
The resolution as read named the firms Fitzpatrick, Cole and Giblin to provide legal services and directed bills be forwarded to the board secretary for payment review. The reading of the motion included hourly rates; the transcript records an initial statement of $185 per hour for attorneys and $125 per hour for paralegal services, followed by an immediate correction in which the speaker apologized and restated the numbers as “$1.85 per hour” for attorneys and $90 per hour for paralegals. The board approved the resolution after the correction was made on the record. The transcript does not resolve which set of figures is authoritative; the board’s public materials or the executed contract should be consulted for the final, binding rates.
Trustees expressed appreciation for the pool of firms that applied and thanked those that interviewed earlier in the meeting. The board also noted that Jason Nunemacker would serve as the primary coordinating attorney for the district under the appointment.
The board moved directly from the counsel resolution to two personnel items, which the board approved by roll call. The meeting then continued with committee reports and public comment before adjourning.
Article provenance: The counsel appointment motion and roll call appear in the transcript starting at SEG 341 with the resolution text and continue through the roll call and vote recorded through SEG 399. The personnel motions and their roll-call approval appear from SEG 401 to SEG 431.
Next steps: The district will execute the engagement documents with the selected firms; public records (contracts or board minutes) should be reviewed to confirm the contract rates and terms.
