The Assembly held its first voting session of the fall on Thursday, Sept. 24, and passed several pieces of legislation relevant to boards of education. Governor Sherrill also signed a bill regarding student mental health services into law.
The New Jersey School Boards Association is monitoring all bills relevant to boards of education and will continue to post timely Legislative Updates in School Board Notes to highlight recent legislative action. For recordings of committee meetings and the most up-to-date information regarding specific legislation, please visit the New Jersey Legislature’s website.
New Laws
Governor Sherrill signed the following bills into law on Monday, Sept. 28:
School-based Partnerships for Access and Resilience for Kids (SPARK) S-4413/A-5235 (P.L.2026, c.92) establishes the SPARK pilot program in the New Jersey Department of Children and Families (DCF). The purpose of the program, which is supported by $8 million in funding from the FY2027 state budget, will be to connect students who have been identified as requiring longer term mental health care or who have high-acuity behavioral health needs with a “SPARK pilot program navigator,” which in turn would provide various support services. The law designates the contracted service provider for DCF’s Child Collaborative Mental Health Care Program as the SPARK pilot program navigator. DCF, in consultation with DOE, will select up to ten districts to participate in the pilot program. The pilot will begin Jan 1, 2027, and run for 18 months. Participating districts will be required to:
- Develop – in accordance with guidelines issued by DCF in consultation with DOE – a comprehensive mental health support and partnership program. Under the program, each district must have either a designated staff member to provide school-based mental health care services for students, a formalized arrangement with a community-based mental health care provider, or a formalized arrangement with the NJ4S program to provide services, with outlined criteria for when they will be utilized;
- Make SPARK pilot program services available for students in grades K-12, upon a referral by a teaching staff member or school mental health professionals and only with the written authorization of the student’s parent or legal guardian;
- Engage with the SPARK pilot program navigator, which, in consultation with a “participating health system,” will be required to offer various services, including:
- psychiatric consultation, assessment, and triage support;
- referrals and linkages to care, as necessary, with school-based or community-based outpatient psychiatric providers and therapists, including, when appropriate, the NJ4S program;
- behavioral health care navigation, coordination, and family engagement;
- short-term medication management, stabilization support, and bridging services for students and families awaiting treatment or services from community-based providers;
- psychiatric clearance, school re-entry, and transition planning following student behavioral health crises, hospitalizations, or emergency department visits;
- educational support, consultation, and behavioral health guidance for school district personnel; and
- consultation and guidance for State and local school leaders to craft and implement evidence-based student mental health policies;
- Input certain information into a “secure technology portal” provided by the SPARK pilot program navigator. The portal will be designed to support districts in reporting and managing student behavioral incidents (e.g. HIB, suicide risk screenings, and behavioral threat assessment and management cases) in order to “minimize risk to students and districts and to ensure that complete and relevant information is captured at the point of the incident”; and
- Report certain information to DCF and DOE regarding student and staff participation in SPARK pilot program services.
Existing providers that “demonstrate the capacity to provide expanded behavioral, physical, or mental health services to students in kindergarten through grade 12” will be eligible to participate in the SPARK pilot program and statewide program. Following the conclusion of the pilot program, DCF will report findings and recommendations to the Governor and legislature, including recommendations regarding the continuation or expansion of the program. DCF will also be required to report on student outcomes, waitlists, the ability of the pilot to integrate and complement the NJ4S program, as well as recommendations for future service delivery. Absent a negative recommendation from DCF, all school districts in the State will be required to participate in the SPARK program upon the conclusion of the pilot program.
The bill was passed by both the Senate and Assembly in June. While it underwent significant changes throughout the legislative process, the NJSBA consistently testified to the importance of maintaining successful NJ4S programs while simultaneously investing in additional programs empowering districts to meet students’ most complex mental health and behavioral needs.
Governor Sherrill issued a press release highlighting the new law and additional mental health resources available to students.
Seniority Service Credit for ESPs S-2962/A-2746 (P.L.2026, c.93) will allow every educational support professional who has served in the active military of the United States and is declared by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to be eligible for federal veterans’ benefits, to receive equivalent years of employment or seniority credit, up to four years, for that service as if the professional had been employed for the same period of time at the school district. Any military service will be credited towards this employment or seniority credit, including service that occurred before the professional’s employment as an educational support professional. Existing law provided that a teaching staff member may receive up to four years of credit, in computing length of service for seniority purposes, for military service; this new law will provide a similar benefit to educational support professionals.
The NJSBA was monitoring the bill, which was passed by the Senate in May and by the Assembly in June.
On the Governor’s Desk
Following the Assembly’s voting session on Thursday, Sept. 24, the following bill now awaits the governor’s signature:
New Jersey History Day Act S-4307/A-5251, known as the “New Jersey History Day Act,” would designate December 18 of each year as “New Jersey History Day.” The bill would permit each school district to annually observe “New Jersey History Day” by commemorating the state’s history through appropriate instructional activities aligned with the New Jersey Student Learning Standards in Social Studies. The bill also provides that the New Jersey Historical Commission, in consultation with the Department of Education, would develop and distribute resource materials for school districts, promote statewide participation in the celebration of “New Jersey History Day,” and provide grants to support appropriate programs and activities to observe “New Jersey History Day.”
The NJSBA supports the bill, which was passed by the Senate in June.
Passed by the Assembly
Following the Assembly’s voting session on Thursday, Sept. 24, the following bills will move to the Senate for consideration:
Guidance on Accommodations for Fasting Students S-1340/A-2042 would require the Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health, to develop and distribute guidance to public schools concerning accommodations for students who are fasting for religious or medical reasons. The bill would require the guidance to include recommendations on flexibility, differentiated instruction, and alternative educational activities for physical education classes, athletic participation, examinations, and other school activities; strategies to support students who are fasting for religious or medical reasons without adversely affecting the students’ academic standing or access to instruction aligned with the NJSLS; communication with parents or guardians; and professional development resources and best practices.
The NJSBA supports the bill, which was passed by the Senate in May but will need to return for a concurrence vote following amendments in the Assembly.
Outreach for Free and Reduced-Price School Meals A-5439 would amend the FY2027 appropriations act to require 2.5 percent of the appropriation for the Working Class Families State Supplement to be utilized for informational and outreach activities to increase awareness of the program. The Working Class Families State Supplement supports expanded eligibility for the free and reduced-price school breakfast and lunch program for working class and middle-income families with household income between 186 percent and 224 percent of the federal poverty level. The FY2027 appropriations act appropriated $15 million to the Department of Agriculture for this purpose; this bill would require the department to use $375,000 of that appropriation for informational and outreach purposes.
The NJSBA supports the bill.
Including Accounting in STEM A-4236 would amend existing law to designate accounting as a STEM (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) subject. The STEM definition would be updated to include accounting in reference to the following: a grant program to provide eligible teachers additional remuneration to teach STEM classes at nonpublic schools; the Accessing Careers in Engineering and Science (ACES) Program to increase participation of unrepresented students in STEM fields and develop a more diverse STEM workforce; a loan redemption program for teachers who teach STEM classes; a tuition reimbursement program for teachers of STEM subjects; and a grant program to support funding for adult apprenticeship programs in high-growth industries including STEM.
The NJSBA is monitoring the bill.
Amended on the Assembly Floor
The Assembly amended the following bill during its voting session on Thursday, Sept. 24:
Revised FAFSA Graduation Requirement A-2470/S-3245 would make permanent the requirement that students complete a state or federal financial aid application as a prerequisite for receiving a high school diploma, unless a waiver is submitted. As amended on the Assembly floor, the Commissioner of Education would be required to annually issue a report to the Governor on the number of students completing a financial aid form pursuant to the requirement. P.L.2023, c.295 previously created a three-year pilot program requiring the grade 11 classes in 2023-2024, 2024-2025, and 2025-2026 to complete the application and required the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA) to issue a report detailing the requirement; that report is due by Jan. 2027 and has not yet been released.
The NJSBA has previously testified in opposition to the bill, encouraging the Legislature to wait for the release of the HESAA report due by Jan. 2027 before making the graduation requirement permanent. The bill was passed by the Senate in June, but following the Assembly’s amendments, it will need to be reconsidered and passed by the full Assembly and returned to the Senate for a concurrence vote before it can proceed to the Governor for signature.
To view the full text of any of the bills summarized above, please visit the New Jersey Legislature’s website.
