Legislative Update: Flurry of Action During Final Week of Legislative Session

With multiple committee meetings and voting sessions this week, the Senate and Assembly wrapped up legislative activity to conclude the 2024-2025 legislative session. Governor Murphy also acted on numerous pieces of legislation relevant to boards of education.

The 2026-2027 Legislature convened on the afternoon of Tuesday, Jan. 13, and any bills the Legislature considers will apply to the next legislative session. However, Governor Murphy remains in office until Tuesday, Jan. 20 (at which point Governor-Elect Sherrill will be inaugurated), and therefore can act on bills that landed on his desk from the voting sessions held on Monday, Jan. 12. He may actively sign them into law or “pocket veto” them by not taking any action.

The NJSBA will report on the final enactments of the 2024-2025 legislative session in next week’s School Board Notes. NJSBA advocacy staff will also be hosting a webinar on Wednesday, Jan. 21, at 10:00 a.m. on noteworthy legislation affecting boards of education that have recently been signed into law, several other measures that did not quite make it to the finish line, and what to expect heading into the 2026-2027 session. This webinar will be streamed via Zoom for registrants and available publicly on NJSBA’s YouTube channel.

For the most up-to-date information regarding specific legislation, please visit the New Jersey Legislature’s website.

New Laws

The following bills – all passed by the Legislature in December – were signed into law over the last week by Governor Murphy:

Policies on Internet-Enabled Devices A-4882/S-3695 (P.L.2025, c.195) was signed Jan. 8, 2026. The law requires the New Jersey Department of Education to develop guidelines on student use of internet-enabled devices and will require each board of education to adopt a policy consistent with those guidelines beginning with the 2026-2027 school year. The guidelines will prohibit the non-academic use of internet-enabled devices on school grounds during the school day. More details on the law and the governor’s bill-signing ceremony are available here.

Epilepsy and Seizure Disorder Training A-2255/S-2376 (P.L.2025, c.205) was signed Jan. 12, 2026. The law amends “Paul’s Law” (P.L.2019, c.290) to require all staff employed by a board of education to be trained in the care of students with epilepsy and seizure disorders every five years. Previously, such training was not required on a regular basis. The NJSBA supported the bill as amended.

Educator Employment Web Portal A-3864/S-2498/S-2505 (P.L.2025, c.208) was signed Jan. 12, 2026. The law requires the NJDOE to establish and maintain – or contract with a private vendor to establish – an educator employment web portal. The web portal will aggregate job postings from public schools and approved private schools for students with disabilities across the state. Educators will be able to search for positions in one place and receive direct links to school-specific application systems for submission. The NJSBA supported the bill.

Leasing School Property to FQHCs A-4381/S-3156 (P.L.2025, c.210) was signed Jan. 12, 2026. The law adds federally qualified health centers to the list of entities to which a local board of education may lease school buildings and property that are no longer necessary for school purposes, for a nominal fee, without following the competitive bidding process. In the case of joint occupancy with a public school and a federally qualified health center, the bill would require the federally qualified health center to be located in a separate and distinct portion of the school building from where students are present. The NJSBA supported the bill.

Regulating Hemp Products S-4509/A-6295 (P.L.2025, c.215) was signed Jan. 12, 2026. The law establishes a new regulatory scheme for the sale of certain hemp products by amending the “New Jersey Hemp Farming Act.” Among its many provisions, the law makes it unlawful to sell any product with any amount of detectable THC to a person under the age of 21. The NJSBA supported the bill.

CTE Teacher Certification Requirements A-5824/S-4515 (P.L.2025, c.216) was signed Jan. 12, 2026. The law prohibits the State Board of Education from requiring a candidate for a certificate of eligibility in a career and technical education endorsement to complete an educator preparation program  that exceeds 200 hours of instruction or one academic year. The NJSBA supported the bill.

Mental Health Referrals A-1657/S-2380 (P.L.2025, c.225) was signed Jan. 12, 2026. The law permits a student assistance coordinator, school counselor, school psychologist, or other mental health professional working in a school district to refer, or help facilitate the referral of, a student to an individual or practice licensed to provide professional counseling for mental health assessments and services. The NJSBA supported the bill.

Supplemental Tutoring Registry S-2867/A-1997 (P.L.2025, c.227) was signed Jan. 12, 2026. The law directs NJDOE to partner with a nonprofit organization to establish and maintain a central, searchable, and publicly available registry of individuals and organizations interested in offering free tutoring services to students throughout the state. The NJSBA supported the bill.

November Separate Proposals for Future Years A-2784/S-2548 (P.L.2025, c.234) was signed Jan. 12, 2026. The law allows a school district that has moved its annual school election to November to submit a separate proposal to voters for additional funds beyond the district’s authorized tax levy cap to support a particular program or purpose for the budget year, or a separate proposal for additional funds for the subsequent budget year, or separate proposals for additional funds for each of those budget years. The NJSBA supported the bill following a resolution approved at the Association’s May 2023 Delegate Assembly.

Home Instruction Documentation S-1763/A-3340 (P.L.2025, c.240) was signed Jan. 12, 2026. The law empowers a general education or special education student’s advanced practice nurse or physician assistant – in addition to their physician – to document the student’s need for home instruction for more than 10 consecutive or 17 cumulative school days during the school year due to a temporary or chronic health condition pursuant to NJDOE regulations (N.J.A.C. 6A:16-10.1 et seq.). The NJSBA was monitoring the bill.

Water Safety Fact Sheet S-3767/A-4763 (P.L.2025, c.247) was signed Jan. 12, 2026. The law requires the Department of Children and Families to develop an educational fact sheet on water safety and requires the NJDOE to distribute it to school districts and nonpublic schools. Additionally, the law requires each school district to publish on its website a list of locations where swimming lessons and water safety courses are offered. The list shall consist of locations that have voluntarily requested inclusion and shall be updated annually. The NJSBA had successfully sought an amendment directing the NJDOE to develop a statewide list of such locations, rather than having each district create its own list, but the amendment was removed on the Senate floor.

Nonpublic Auxiliary and Remedial Aid S-4312/A-4854 (P.L.2025, c.252) was signed Jan. 12, 2026. The law amends the existing statute governing the allocation of state aid for auxiliary and remedial services to non-public school students by requiring the commissioner of education to establish a process for reimbursing school districts for costs incurred to provide those services. The law also requires the commissioner to collect information necessary to calculate the average and range of costs incurred to provide services. The NJSBA was monitoring the bill.

On the Governor’s Desk

Following meetings of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee and the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Thursday, Jan. 8, voting sessions were held on Monday, Jan. 12. The bills listed below were passed that day and now await the governor’s signature. The NJSBA will report on the final enactments of the 2024-2025 legislative session in next week’s School Board Notes.

Instruction on Cursive Handwriting S-1783/S-2712/A-3865 would require school districts to 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 and writing cursive legibly by the end of third grade. The NJSBA has 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 has 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.

Special Education Transportation Task Force A-4607/S-3447 would establish the Special Education Task Force. The task force’s purpose would be to study and make recommendations for best practices in transporting students who receive special education and related services, including preventing, identifying, and responding to medical and behavioral emergencies. As amended, the task force would consist of 23 members, including one representative of the NJSBA. The NJSBA supports the bill.

Charter School Transparency and Accountability S-4713/A-5936 would modify certain parts of the “Charter School Program Act of 1995” and other sections of New Jersey law to establish various new requirements for charter schools, charter school boards of trustees, and charter school management organizations. The bill addresses numerous areas of charter school oversight, including: public notice and hearing of charter school applications and renewals; charter school applications and consolidation; physical location requirements for charter schools; charter school reporting; charter school renewals and revocations; charter school budget transparency; requirements with respect to charter school boards of trustees and board membership; and additional provisions related to charter management organizations. The NJSBA supports the bill.

Charter School Enrollment and Athletics S-4716/A-5935 would make several changes to charter school enrollment, student placements, reporting, and athletics. It would require all schools in the state to have a student placement liaison and would set new requirements for exit interviews and the tracking and coordination of students moving between charter schools and traditional public schools. The bill would also require charter schools offering interscholastic athletics to join a voluntary association, such as the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. The NJSBA supports the bill.

Nonpublic School Nursing Services Pilot Program A-6149/S-5029 would require the Commissioner of Education to establish, supervise, and fund a three-year nonpublic school nursing services pilot program in an eligible county through a county consortium. The bill would require NJDOE to disburse directly to the county consortium an amount equal to the nonpublic nursing services aid that would otherwise be paid to a school district for nursing services provided to students enrolled at a nonpublic school that is part of the county consortium. The NJSBA is monitoring the bill.

Instruction on Dangers of Illicit Opioid Substances A-3909/S-2818, as amended, would be called the “Illicit Opioid Supply Substances Poisoning Awareness Act”, and would require school districts to provide instruction on the dangers of the most prevalent or emerging substances in the illicit opioid supply in New Jersey, as part of the district’s implementation of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS) in Comprehensive Health and Physical Education. The NJSBA supports the bill as amended.

Health Care Benefits for Disabled Public Employees S-4223/A-5118 would permit members of the Teachers’ Pension and Annuity Fund and Public Employees’ Retirement System, or long-term disability insurance recipients who are receiving disability insurance benefits, to be entitled to health care benefits under the School Employees’ Health Benefits Program and State Health Benefits Program. The bill stipulates that such health care benefits are to be free and will not require employee contributions. The NJSBA is monitoring the bill.

Revised Definition of Child Abuse and Neglect S-3751/A-5636 would amend the definition of “child” in Section 1 of P.L.1974, c.119 (C.9:6-8.21) to mean: 1) any person less than 18 years of age alleged to have been abused or neglected; or 2) any person less than 21 years of age alleged to have been abused or neglected, or subject to exploitation by a teacher, employee, contractor, or volunteer, whether compensated or uncompensated, of an institution responsible for the care or supervision of that person, as regulated by the Department of Children and Families, including employees of day schools. The NJSBA is monitoring the bill.

Federal Law Enforcement in Sensitive Locations A-6308/S-5036 would require the Attorney General to develop model policies to ensure personal freedom in certain sensitive locations, including public schools, to ensure such institutions remain safe and accessible to all state residents. The Commissioner of Education would have to adopt the model policies relevant to schools and then require public schools (and request private schools) to adhere to those model policies or policies that provide greater protection. The NJSBA is monitoring the bill.

Extension of Family Leave Protection A-3451/S-2950 would amend existing law to broaden the group of employees eligible for family leave. As amended, the bill would make eligible employees who have been employed for at least three months by an employer (a decrease from 12 months) and who have worked for at least 250 base hours during the preceding 12-month period (a decrease from 1,000 base hours). The bill would also reduce the employee threshold from 30 employees to 15 employees in the definition of “employer.” Finally, the bill clarifies that employees who are eligible for both earned sick leave and temporary disability benefits or family temporary disability leave benefits may choose the order in which they take these types of leave, but may not receive more than one form of paid leave concurrently. The bill would take effect six months following enactment. The NJSBA is monitoring the bill.

Retired Teachers in Nonpublic Grant Program S-4678/A-5930 was previously passed by the Legislature in December but was conditionally vetoed by the governor on Jan. 12. Following concurrence votes in both houses, the bill is now back on the governor’s desk. The bill would amend the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics teacher (STEM) grant program established through P.L.2019, c.256 (C.18A:6-137 et seq.) to include retired teachers and faculty members of county colleges under the program. The NJSBA is monitoring the bill after successfully advocating for an amendment that eliminated the requirement that districts notify previously employed, now-retired teachers about the grant program.

Water Quality Notifications S-984/A-1400 was previously passed by the Legislature in December but was conditionally vetoed by the governor on Jan. 12. Following concurrence votes in both houses, the bill is now back on the governor’s desk. As amended, the bill would require the owner or operator of a public water system to immediately notify the governing body of a municipality and the chief administrator of every school served by the system whenever the system violates any drinking water quality standard. The bill would also require the owner or operator of the public water system to provide information on suggested remedies that a customer may take to address the violation. The NJSBA supports the bill.

To view the full text of any of the bills summarized above, please visit the New Jersey Legislature’s website.