Bill Text: NJ A5032 | 2026-2027 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires SDA districts to solicit at least three lease proposals prior to entering into lease agreement with developer for construction and lease of new school building.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 2)
Status: (Introduced) 2026-05-11 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee [A5032 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2026-A5032-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ALEX SAUICKIE
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Requires SDA districts to solicit at least three proposals prior to entering into lease agreement with developer for construction and lease of new school building.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning certain school district lease agreements and supplementing chapter 20 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Prior to entering into a lease agreement with a developer for the construction and lease of a new school building pursuant to subsection (f) of N.J.S.18A:20-4.2, an SDA district shall solicit at least three lease agreement proposals. The board of education shall utilize a request for lease agreement proposals documentation in accordance with the provisions of this section.
b. The school business administrator shall prepare or have prepared a request for lease agreement proposal documentation that includes: all requirements deemed appropriate and necessary to allow for free and fair competition among developers; information deemed necessary for developers to submit a proposal; and a methodology by which the board shall evaluate and rank proposals received from developers.
c. The methodology for the awarding of lease agreements shall be based on an evaluation that shall include technical, management, and cost-related criteria, and may include a weighting of criteria all developed in a way that is intended to meet the specific needs of the school district, and where the criteria shall not unfairly or illegally discriminate against or exclude otherwise capable developers. When an evaluation methodology uses a weighting criteria, at the option of the board, the weighting to be accorded to each criterion may be disclosed to developers prior to receipt of the lease agreement proposals. The methodology for awarding lease agreements shall comply with rules and regulations adopted by the State Board of Education pursuant to subsection k. of this section.
d. A notice of the availability of the request for lease agreement proposals shall be published in an official newspaper of the board of education at least 30 days prior to the date established for the submission of the proposals. The board of education shall promptly reply to any request by an interested developer by providing a copy of the request for lease agreement proposal documentation. The board may charge a fee for the lease agreement proposal documentation that shall not exceed $50 or the cost of reproducing the documentation, whichever is greater.
e. At no time during the lease agreement proposal process shall the school business administrator or board of education convey information to any potential developer that could confer an unfair advantage upon that developer over any other potential developer. If the school business administrator or board wants to change the lease agreement proposal documentation, the school business administrator shall notify only those potential developers who received the proposal documentation of any and all changes in writing and all existing documentation shall be changed appropriately.
f. Each interested developer shall submit a lease agreement proposal that includes all the information required by the request for lease agreement proposals documentation. Failure to meet the requirements of the request for lease agreement proposals documentation may result in the board disqualifying the developer from further consideration. Under no circumstances shall the provisions of a proposal be subject to negotiations by the board of education.
g. The school business administrator shall evaluate all proposals only in accordance with the methodology described in the request for lease agreement proposals documentation. After the proposals have been evaluated, the school business administrator shall prepare a report evaluating and recommending the award of a lease agreement. The report shall list the names of all potential developers who submitted a proposal and summarize the proposals of each developer. The report shall rank developers in order of evaluation, recommend the selection of a developer for a lease agreement, be clear in the reasons why the developer has been selected among others considered, and detail the terms, conditions, and cost of the lease agreement including the amount of the annual lease payments and the impact of those payments on the school district's general fund tax levy. The report shall be made available to the public at lease 48 hours prior to the awarding of the lease agreement, or made available to the board of education, whichever is sooner. The board shall have the right to reject all proposals. Any lease agreement entered into with a developer pursuant to this section shall be made by resolution of the board of education.
h. Award of the lease agreement shall be made within 60 days of receipt of the proposals, except that the proposals of any developers, who consent thereto, may, at the request of the board, be held for a longer period as may be agreed.
i. The report prepared pursuant to subsection g. of this section shall become part of the public record and shall reflect the final action of the board.
j. The secretary of the board of education shall publish a notice in the official newspaper of the board summarizing the award of the lease agreement which shall include, but not be limited to, the nature, duration, and amount of the lease agreement and a statement that the board resolution and lease agreement are on file and available for public inspection in the office of the secretary of the board of education.
k. The State Board of Education shall adopt rules and regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L. 1968, c.410 (C:52:14B-1 et seq.), to effectuate the provisions of this act.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes procedures to be followed by an SDA district when the district determines to enter into a lease agreement with a developer for the construction and lease of a new school building.
Under the bill's provisions, prior to entering into a lease agreement with a developer for the construction and lease of a new school building, an SDA district (former Abbott district) is to solicit at lease three lease agreement proposals. The school business administrator of the district will prepare or have prepared a lease agreement proposal documentation that includes: all requirements deemed appropriate and necessary to allow for free and fair competition among developers; information deemed necessary for developers to submit a proposal; and a methodology by which the board will evaluate and rank proposals. The methodology for awarding a lease agreement will be based on an evaluation that includes technical, management, and cost-related criteria, and may include a weighting of the criteria developed in a way that is intended to meet the needs of the school district. A notice of the availability of the request for lease agreement proposals is required to be published in the official newspaper of the board of education at least 30 days prior to the date established for the submission of proposals.
Each interested developer is required to submit a lease agreement proposal. The school business administrator will evaluate all proposals only in accordance with the methodology described in the request for lease agreement proposals documentation. The school business administrator will then prepare a report summarizing the proposal of each developer, making a recommendation on the selection of a developer's proposed lease agreement, and stating the reasons why that developer was selected. The report shall be made available to the public at lease 48 hours prior to the awarding of a lease agreement, or made available to the board of education, whichever is sooner. Any lease agreement entered into with a developer would be made by resolution of the board of education, and the board retains the right to reject all submitted lease proposals.
The secretary of the board of education will publish a notice that the board resolution and lease agreement are available for public inspection in the board secretary's office.
