After all the hoopla, only 17 NJ school board members are disqualified from service based on background checks, according to today’s Star-Ledger.

Last July the Legislature passed a bill that required all 5,159 school board members to undergo criminal background checks. At one point the DOE announced that 186 members were disqualified, but that number dropped significantly after a little hounding.

It costs each district $81 in costs for each school board member to complete the process. That’s about $418K in total. Was it worth it? You decide.