Toms River board invokes doctrine of necessity, discloses conflicts before teacher contract action

The Toms River Regional School District Board of Education on June 4 invoked the so-called "doctrine of necessity," publicly disclosing that a majority of trustees have potential conflicts of interest tied to negotiations with the Toms River Education Association.

Board solicitor William R. Burns read the resolution on the record, saying, "the Toms River Schools Board of Education does hereby invoke the doctrine of necessity for the reason of taking potential action with respect to proposed contract with the Toms River Regional Schools Education Association." The reading specified the nature of the conflicts and listed trustees with relatives employed by the district or with past endorsements or campaign contributions from education groups.

The resolution named Vice President James Capone (whose sister is a district teacher), trustee Joseph Joubert (whose daughter-in-law is a district teacher and who was previously endorsed by the teachers' association), trustee Kevin Kidney (employed as a teacher in Brick Township), trustee Kathy Egan (whose daughter and other relatives work in the district) and trustee Lisa Contessa (previously endorsed and a recipient of a contribution referenced in the reading). Burns said the board would post the resolution for 30 days and provide a copy to the New Jersey School Ethics Commission as required.

Trustees moved and adopted the resolution by roll call. The invocation allows the board to take official action on matters for which a quorum otherwise would be compromised by members' conflicts; the reading cited the School Ethics Act and advisory guidance from the Ethics Commission. The board did not, in that motion, provide additional detail about any single personnel or bargaining concession tied to the conflicts; those items were handled elsewhere on the agenda.