Warren County school board members among those facing removal for not doing background check

One, from Pohatcong Township, said her check has merely been delayed. A board member from Great Meadows Regional said a payment technicality caused him to miss the deadline.

At least two Warren County school board members face removal from office for failing to complete a background check mandated under a new state law, the two acknowledged today.

The policy is responsible for at least one of two vacancies on the Great Meadows Regional School Board. The other member was removed from the Pohatcong Township school board.

Pohatcong Township member Regina Blair said that although she has yet to complete the background check, she’s been told she’ll be able to maintain her seat.

Blair had scheduled her background check for Nov. 29 but had to reschedule it to Jan. 19 because she was out of town for work, she said. She said she was never told her new appointment would be after the deadline, which was Dec. 31.

“I apologized to my superintendent. I said, ‘I’m really sorry, I was trying to get it done,’” said Blair, who said she’s been told she’ll be able to be reinstated to the board.

Joseph Mahal said he was removed from the Great Meadows Regional School Board, which is seeking two replacement members from Independence Township.

Mahal, a third-term board member, said he couldn’t do the background check because it required payment by credit card and he doesn’t have one. He said the criminal history review cost more than $100.

“To me, it’s a moneymaker for the state,” Mahal said. “It’s a shame. I joined the school board to help the kids.”

Statewide, at least 186 school board members face removal. Officials from the state and the New Jersey School Boards Association sent numerous reminders to board members to complete the check since the law was signed last spring.

The law is the only one of its kind in the nation.

Note: An earlier version of this story identified four other school board members — one from Warren County and three from Hunterdon County — included on a list of board members facing removal. Those names were on a list published on nj.com; that website has since removed the list, citing concerns over its accuracy.