Board OKs outside legal counsel after brief rate correction

The Hackensack Board of Education voted to appoint the law firm Fitzpatrick, Cole & Giblin as legal counsel to represent the district from Feb. 12, 2025, through Jan. 31, 2026. The motion was made by Trustee Gilmore and seconded by Trustee Pringle; the chair said the motion passed on a roll-call vote.

At the meeting the presiding officer read the resolution and initially misstated the hourly fees, then corrected the record: “My apologies... the hourly rate for the attorneys is $185 per hour, and the paralegal is $90 per hour,” the presiding officer said. The chair also said Jason Nunemacker will serve as the primary contact coordinating attorney for the district.

Board members said they could not disclose details about closed-session discussions, citing attorney-client privilege. The board's earlier agenda materials and comments from the presiding officer said the executive session covered legal, personnel, student-related matters and negotiations and that matters would be made public when confidentiality no longer exists. The motion to appoint counsel followed the district's recently completed RFP process; the presiding officer said the RFP closed Feb. 6 and appointments would be finalized in the coming weeks.

The board recorded the vote as passing; the meeting transcript includes the roll-call procedure but does not provide a full, clearly enumerated tally of each named vote in the accessible excerpt. The board indicated bills should be forwarded to the board secretary for review and processing.