In a busy week that included numerous committee meetings and voting sessions, the governor signed into law a bill concerning school board election petitions, which will have important ramifications for current and prospective school board members seeking election in New Jersey.
New Law
Gov. Phil Murphy signed the following bill into law Monday, Feb. 3:
School Board Election Petitions A-5117/S-3994 increases the number of signatures required for candidates to be eligible to be placed on primary, general, nonpartisan municipal and school election ballots. With respect to boards of education, the new law requires candidates to collect 25 signatures on their direct nominating petitions – an increase from 10. The law’s effective date is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2025. Therefore, candidates for April board of education elections should obtain at least 25 signatures on their nominating petitions to avoid the possibility of having their petition invalidated for an insufficient number of signatures, or the need to submit a new petition before the filing deadline. The New Jersey School Board Association’s Candidate Kit contains additional information and resources for anyone considering running for their local school board.
Passed by the Senate Only
The Senate held a voting session Thursday, Jan. 30, and approved the following bill:
Therapy Dog Pilot Program S-1253 would establish a three-year pilot program to assess the academic and health benefits associated with the use of therapy dogs in public elementary school wellness programs. Under the bill, a school district that wants to participate in the pilot program would be required to submit an application to the commissioner of education. The commissioner would select two districts in each of the southern, central, and northern regions of the state to participate and seek a cross section of school districts from urban, suburban and rural areas of the state. The commissioner would provide pilot districts with guidance regarding the use of therapy dogs in schools. Within three years, the commissioner would submit a report that evaluates the effectiveness of the pilot program in improving the academic performance and health outcomes of students in elementary schools.
The NJSBA supports the bill. Its counterpart in the Assembly, A-1165, was up for discussion only at the Assembly Education Committee in December but has not advanced to date.
Passed by the Assembly Only
The Assembly held a voting session Thursday, Jan. 30, and approved the following bill:
Labor Movement Instruction A-1682 would require boards of education to include instruction on United States and New Jersey labor history and the contributions of the labor movement. This instruction would be provided in an appropriate place in the curriculum for students in grades six through 12 as part of a district’s implementation of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards in social studies. Specifically, the instruction must include, at a minimum, the history of organized labor; notable strikes throughout history; unionization drives; and the collective bargaining process and existing legal protections in the workplace.
At previous committee deliberations, the NJSBA expressed concerns with the bill and urged the Legislature to exercise caution and restraint before adding to the growing list of statutory instructional mandates. In its testimony, the Association argued that local boards of education, the New Jersey Department of Education and the New Jersey State Board of Education, rather than the Legislature, should maintain authority over what subject areas students must learn when and at what stage of their education. The NJSBA also pointed out that the spirit of the bill is already captured in various areas of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards, rendering it unnecessary.
The bill’s counterpart in the Senate, S-1054, was approved by the Senate Education Committee in June.
Senate Education Committee
The Senate Education Committee met Thursday, Jan. 30. Prior to considering a full agenda of legislation, the committee heard from invited guests on the issue of chronic absenteeism.
Jonathan Pushman, NJSBA’s senior director of advocacy, spoke on behalf of the Association. Pushman highlighted several ways in which districts around the state have been working to tackle chronic absenteeism in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and shared a recent article from NJSBA’s School Leader that discusses the topic in-depth. The archived proceeding of the committee meeting contains more comments from the invited speakers.
In addition to the hearing on chronic absenteeism, the committee approved the following bills relevant to boards of education:
SFRA Reform S-3917 would make various changes to state school aid, including extraordinary special education aid and vocational expansion stabilization aid. It would also establish a new category of aid referred to as “reduction adjustment aid,” would add certain requirements for the issuance of the Educational Adequacy Report and would establish a task force to review special education funding. A previous version of the bill would have made changes to the local tax levy cap, but as amended by the Senate Education Committee, the bill no longer includes those provisions.
The bill provides for a gradual increase of state aid for extraordinary special education. Under the amended bill, the state would be required to either increase its total appropriation for extraordinary special education from one fiscal year to the next or would be required to increase the percentage of reimbursed costs for each district from one fiscal year to the next.
The bill also provides that, for a county vocational school district that receives vocational expansion stabilization aid, the amount of vocational expansion stabilization aid received is to be adjusted to allow for increases in resident enrollment. It also establishes “reduction adjustment aid” to ensure that the amount of state school aid provided to a district is not to be decreased by more than 2% of the district’s prebudget year total operating budget. The bill also extends the municipal overburden protections under “S-2” that prevent high-tax, low-income school districts from receiving reductions in state aid.
The bill addresses the Educational Adequacy Report and seeks to enhance transparency surrounding state school funding. It would require the NJDOE to make available on the department’s website the calculation of aid payable to each school district in the succeeding year in a user-friendly manner, including explanations of the variables used to determine the district’s aid. It would also allow the commissioner of education to initiate a review of certain elements of the funding formula, including the metrics for adjusting costs in intervening years. A draft of the EAR would need to be made available for public comment for at least 30 days, during which time members of the public may provide feedback. Additionally, during the development of the next EAR, the commissioner shall engage a diverse group of stakeholders to review and make recommendations concerning: the calculation of a district’s local share and whether the metrics used are best able to estimate a district’s potential adjusted tax levy; the impact and feasibility of using multi-year averages in the calculation of local share; the abilities of the NJDOE and school districts to predict and anticipate state school aid amounts from year to year; and possible methods of improving upon the existing preschool funding methodology.
Finally, the bill would establish a Special Education Funding Review Task Force. The purpose of the task force would be to assess the effectiveness of state aid provided to support special education costs, examine the possibility of a tier-based model for special education funding and make recommendations regarding the implementation of a tier-based funding model. The NJSBA would have one representative on the 11-member group.
In testimony before the committee, the NJSBA expressed its overall support for various provisions of S-3917 while offering suggestions for improvement to the bill and sharing its concerns over several provisions that were removed from the committee-amended bill. The NJSBA endorsed the section of the bill that aims to mitigate the magnitude of potential state aid cuts. As the bill currently stands, any district’s state aid reduction would be capped at 2% of its operating budget. While appreciative of the goal, the NJSBA urged the committee to explore whether that protection goes far enough and offered a suggestion that it may be more impactful to cap the amount a district could lose in state aid at a higher percentage of its operating budget or at a portion of its prior year state aid total. The NJSBA supported provisions that strive to enhance transparency of and ensure public input into various aspects of the funding formula and highlighted the need for full funding of extraordinary special education aid. The Association also reiterated the struggles many districts face under the existing 2% tax levy cap and stressed the crucial need for cap flexibility to allow districts to reach their local fair share. Finally, the NJSBA expressed support for the creation of the Special Education Funding Review Task Force and its appreciation for having the opportunity to share its expertise as one of the members of the task force.
The bill next heads to the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee. It has not yet moved in the Assembly.
Epi-Pen Administration by Bus Drivers S-315 would allow a board of education’s policy concerning the administration of epinephrine to permit school bus drivers to administer epinephrine to a student in emergency situations. The bill establishes certain conditions that must be met before a bus driver would be permitted to administer epinephrine, including the receipt of parental consent and physician orders. The bill includes liability protections for districts, district staff, bus drivers and school bus contractors, and it would also require that an eligible driver must be properly trained by a school nurse or physician or other individual or entity approved by the Department of Health.
The NJSBA supports the bill.
Menstrual Toxic Shock Syndrome Education S-636 would require each school district to incorporate instruction on menstrual toxic shock syndrome in grades 4-12 as part of the district’s Comprehensive Health and Physical Education curriculum. That instruction would be required to include information on the causes and symptoms of the syndrome and the ways in which a student may reduce the risk of developing it. The bill would require the NJDOE to provide age-appropriate sample learning activities and resources to support implementation of this requirement. The bill would also require owners of a group A or M occupancy that maintains a restroom that is open to the public and available for use by women, and includes two or more toilets, to install a sign in the restroom regarding the syndrome.
In committee testimony, the NJSBA expressed concerns about the addition of a new instructional requirement. The Association offered an alternative approach – that school districts be required to annually provide an educational fact sheet regarding menstrual toxic shock syndrome – which would preserve the bill’s spirit and intent while avoiding the addition of a new requirement.
Instruction on Cursive Handwriting S-1783/S-2712 would require, beginning in the first full school year following signature of the bill, that each school district incorporate instruction on cursive handwriting into the curriculum for students in elementary schools. The curriculum would need to include activities and instructional materials that would help students become proficient in reading cursive and writing in cursive legibly by the end of third grade.
In committee testimony, the NJSBA expressed concerns about the addition of a new instructional mandate. Citing the removal of cursive instruction from the state’s learning standards in 2010, the Association recommended that the decision to include cursive instruction in a district’s curriculum should rest with the local board of education and the trained experts it employs.
No-Fee Option for School Lunch Payments S-3961 would require boards of education to offer a no-fee option to parents and guardians for making school lunch and other types of payments. The no-fee option would need to be provided at a time and place convenient for student, parent and guardian use. The bill would also require any payment processing platform used by a school district to provide users with certain information on user fees and would require any school-based communications requesting payment for school meals, field trips, activity fees or other goods or services to include information on the fees associated with use of a payment processing platform that may be used to make the payment.
The NJSBA is monitoring the bill.
Teacher Appreciation Week SJR-93 would designate the first full week of May of each year as “Teacher Appreciation Week.”
The NJSBA supports the resolution.
Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee
The Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee met Thursday, Jan. 30, and approved the following bill relevant to boards of education:
Reporting Cybersecurity Incidents S-3313 would, as amended, expand on existing cybersecurity requirements for municipalities, counties and school districts. If a cybersecurity incident impacts a municipality, county or school district, the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness would need to contract with an independent cybersecurity company within 30 days of receipt of notice of the incident to audit the cybersecurity program of any actions taken by the affected entity. The audit would be paid for by the OHSP, and the municipality, county or school district would be required to submit the completed audit and any corrective action plans derived from the audit to the OHSP. The bill would also require that, within six months of an audit but not more than once per calendar year, all municipal and county officers and employees, including all school district employees, are to complete a cybersecurity awareness training program developed by the OHSP in consultation with the attorney general. Municipalities, counties and school districts would be permitted to apply to the OHSP for reimbursement of any costs incurred pursuant to the requirements of the bill. Any information collected and shared pursuant to the specific provisions of the bill would be exempt from the Open Public Records Act.
The NJSBA is monitoring the bill.
Assembly Science, Innovation and Technology Committee
The Assembly Science, Innovation and Technology Committee met Thursday, Jan. 23, and approved the following bill relevant to boards of education:
Common Applications and Web Portals for Educators A-3864/S-2498/S-2505 would require the NJDOE to establish – or contract with a private vendor to establish – a web portal for educators, including substitute teachers, to submit common applications for employment at a New Jersey public school. The portal would be designed to maintain high standards for data privacy and security while increasing information sharing about employment opportunities. The bill would not prevent a school district or public school employer from using its own application process or web portal, or from requiring additional materials from applicants who apply using the NJDOE’s common application and web portal.
The NJSBA supports the bill, which was passed by the Senate in October and now heads to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for further consideration.
Assembly State and Local Government Committee
The Assembly State and Local Government Committee met Thursday, Jan. 23, and approved the following bill relevant to boards of education:
Public School District Leases A-5038 would extend the period of time – from five years to 20 years – in which a board of education may execute certain: 1) leases with the federal government, the state, a political subdivision of the state or any other individual or entity authorized to do business in the state; and 2) lease purchase agreements for improvements or additions to school buildings.
The NJSBA is monitoring the bill.
Resolution Approved
On Thursday, Jan. 30, the governor signed the following joint resolution:
Recognizing Paraprofessionals AJR-101/SJR-76 designates the second Friday of December of each year as “Paraprofessional and School-Related Personnel in Our Schools Day” in New Jersey to recognize the contributions of paraprofessionals and school-related personnel.
The NJSBA supported the resolution.
To view the full text of any of the bills summarized above, please visit the New Jersey Legislature’s website.