Several Senate committees met at the State House this week for the first time since June. Following the adoption of the FY2026 state budget, both houses of the Legislature recessed until after last week’s elections. Now that election season is over, the period commonly referred to as “lame duck” begins. The Legislature will be busy over the next two months before the end of the current legislative session in January, at which point a new governor and new legislature will take office.

Senate Education Committee

The Senate Education Committee met on Monday, Nov. 10, and approved the following bills relevant to boards of education:

Mental Health Referrals A-1657/S-2380 would permit 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 (including a psychiatrist, certified social worker, licensed clinical social worker, licensed social worker, licensed marriage and family therapist, certified psychoanalyst or licensed psychologist) for mental health assessments and services. A student assistance coordinator, school counselor, school psychologist or other mental health professional working in a school district would not be able to refer a student to an individual or practice with whom the district employee, or the employee’s immediate family, or the employee in combination with his or her family, has a significant beneficial interest.

In the case of a student who is not legally permitted to consent to the assessments and services, the student’s parent or guardian would be notified of the referral or the facilitation of the referral, and the parent or guardian would be required to consent prior to the provision of any assessment or service by the individual or practice.

The bill provides that neither the school district nor the individual making or facilitating the referral would be required to bear the cost of assessments and services provided to the student by a licensed individual or practice. The bill would not limit a school district’s authority to provide mental health assessments and services to students.

The New Jersey School Boards Association supports the bill which was passed by the Assembly in Dec. 2024.

Water Safety Month A-4762/S-3792 would designate May of each year as “Water Safety Month” in New Jersey. The bill would also encourage the New Jersey Department of Education, in consultation with the state Department of Health, to provide resources to school districts to hold presentations and educational activities during the month for students in grades K-5.

The NJSBA supports the bill, which was passed by the Assembly in May.

Revised Proceedings for Nonrenewal S-4488 would amend the requirements for proceedings concerning the nonrenewal of nontenured officers and employees of school district boards of education. Under current law, these proceedings, often called “Donaldson hearings,” are informal appearances that provide an opportunity for nontenured staff members for whom the chief school administrator has recommended nonrenewal to convince members of the board of education to offer reemployment. The bill would provide nontenured staff members, whose employment contracts are not renewed, a right to a formal hearing before the applicable board of education to convince the board members to offer reemployment.

The bill would require the presence of the school board attorney at all of these hearings, require the nontenured staff member to provide copies of all written material in support of the case to the board attorney at least three days in advance of the hearing, and require the decision of the board of education on whether to renew the contract of a nontenured staff member to be in writing. The written decision of the board would include the factual background of the case, as well as the reasons for the board’s decision. In the case of hearings conducted remotely, the bill prohibits deactivation of video functionality by board members except during formal break periods.

The NJSBA testified in opposition to the bill because it: 1) creates an unfunded mandate for local boards of education by driving up administrative costs through attorneys’ fees; 2) contains internal contradictions which confuse the role of the board and chief school administrator; 3) creates a problematic requirement for a written decision of the board; and 4) bestows tenure-like protections on nontenured individuals.

Retired Teachers in Nonpublic Grant Program S-4678 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 under the program. The bill also authorizes the inclusion of active or retired teachers who may teach some other STEM subject or area, and the payment of grant funds directly to the eligible teacher. Under the existing program, participating nonpublic schools form partnerships with eligible teachers and school districts, in which an eligible teacher employed by the district teaches STEM classes at the nonpublic school. The Commissioner of Education awards grants to participating school districts to provide compensation to participating teachers.

This bill allows a STEM teacher who was previously employed by the school district to teach STEM, but is now retired and receiving a retirement allowance under the Teachers’ Pension and Annuity Fund, to qualify as an eligible teacher under the program, and establishes a formula for the calculation of a retired teacher’s remuneration. The bill also authorizes a currently employed or retired teacher who teaches or taught a STEM subject or area other than science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or computer science to participate in the program.

The bill provides that the grant funds for the payment of an eligible teacher’s salary will be forwarded by the Department of Education directly to the eligible teacher rather than through the school district.  The bill authorizes the Commissioner of Education to contract with a third party to administer grant fund payments. Finally, the bill appropriates $3.5 million for the program.

The NJSBA is monitoring the bill.

Charter School Transparency and Accountability S-4713 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 testified in support of the bill, noting that charter trustees are partners of our Association in our mission to advance the achievement of all public-school students in New Jersey through effective governance. The Association cited several of the bill’s provisions – including public notice requirements, more transparent charter applications, trustee residency requirements, improved trustee training processes, protections against nepotism, and the publishing of compensation and other financial information – as positive steps to improve transparency and accountability for charter schools and elevating the level of ethics and accountability standards to that by which traditional public schools must abide.

Charter School Enrollment and Athletics S-4716 would make several changes to charter school enrollment, student placements, reporting, and athletics. The bill would create additional requirements and standards for charter school enrollment, including for students who live out-of-district. 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. It would require a non-resident student enrolled in a charter school to meet certain requirements to participate in interscholastic athletics at the charter school.

The NJSBA supports the bill.

Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee

The Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee met on Monday, Nov. 10, and approved the following bill relevant to boards of education:

Sharing PILOT Revenue with Schools S-3915 would require municipalities to share certain revenues from payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreements with school districts, unless the municipality enters into an agreement with the school district and the entity receiving the PILOT to provide one or more special projects for the school district. In addition, it would require municipalities to provide notice to the county, school districts, and the Division of Local Government Services within the Department of Community Affairs when a municipality considers and approves a property tax exemption. If the municipality, school district, and entity receiving the PILOT seek to enter into an agreement to provide special projects to the school district instead of remitting a portion of the PILOT, the superintendent or chief executive of the board of education of any school district of which the municipality is a constituent would lead negotiations on behalf of the board of education concerning the agreement.

The amount that a municipality would be required to share with school districts, if the parties do not opt for an alternative agreement, would depend on whether the relevant property is a residential, nonresidential, or mixed-use property. Specifically, for a residential property, the amount would be equal to the product of the number of school-age children who attend a public or regional school district that serves the municipality as well as reside in the project and the base per pupil amount determined by the Commissioner of Education in the previous school year. Alternatively, for nonresidential or mixed-use properties, this amount would be equivalent to five percent of the PILOT or an in-kind contribution equal in value to that amount. Additionally, the remitted portion of the PILOT to the school district would not be permitted to exceed the percentage of the amount of property taxes which would be distributed to the school district. When an amount is remitted to more than one school district, the amount would be divided amongst those districts in proportion to each district’s share of the total school tax levy in the municipality.

The NJSBA testified in support of the bill, citing Association policy beliefs that municipalities should be required to include the board of education in the consideration and development of any PILOT agreement that has the potential to increase student enrollment and that the board of education should be a member of the municipal negotiation committee with equal rights and decision-making authority to provide input and receive appropriate portions of community benefits. The NJSBA submitted written comments as well.

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