The full Senate held a voting session on Monday, June 2. A bill that would require a no-fee option for school lunch payments is headed to the governor for signature. The Senate passed a handful of other education-related measures that will move to the Assembly for further consideration.
On the Governor’s Desk
The following bill is headed to the governor’s desk for signature:
No-Fee Option for School Lunch Payments A-5263/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 students’, parents’ and guardians’ use. The bill would require any payment processing platform used by a school district to provide users with information on user fees and would require any 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.
The New Jersey School Boards Association is monitoring the bill, which was originally passed by the Senate in February before being amended and passed by the Assembly in May. The Senate reapproved the bill, as amended, this week.
Passed by Senate and Returned to Assembly for Concurrence Vote
Extending Pause on SGOs S-4375/A-5077 would extend the statutory pause on the collection of student growth objective (SGO) data initiated by P.L.2024, c.14, and would add a pause on the collection of administrator goals data. That 2024 law established the New Jersey Educator Evaluation Review Task Force and ceased the collection of new data for SGO purposes during the current school year. The purpose of the bill is to extend the pause on the collection of SGO data and administrator goals data until the completion of possible revisions to the evaluation process in line with recommendations from the task force’s final report issued this past September. Under the amended bill, the collection of SGO data and administrator goals data would be paused until the next expiration and subsequent readoption of current educator evaluation regulations (N.J.A.C.6A:10). Additionally, a teacher, principal, assistant principal, or vice-principal who is eligible to attain tenure on or before February 15 would not be required to set SGO or administrator goals for the year in which they are eligible to attain tenure; those eligible after February 15 would be required to do so.
The NJSBA supports the bill. It was passed in the Assembly in December but was amended before passage by the Senate, so it will return to the Assembly for a concurrence vote before being eligible for signature by the governor.
Passed by the Senate Only
Epilepsy and Seizure Disorder Training S-2376 would amend “Paul’s Law” (P.L.2019, c.290) which requires each board of education to coordinate the care of students with epilepsy and seizure disorders. Specifically, the law requires that all staff employed by a board of education be trained in the care of such students but does not require that the training be completed at regular intervals. This bill would amend the law to require that this training take place every five years (as introduced, the measure would have mandated such training every two years).
The NJSBA supports the bill as amended, which has not yet moved in the Assembly.
Chronic Absenteeism Task Force S-3776 would establish a task force to study the causes of chronic absenteeism and develop recommendations for lowering absenteeism rates. The 18-member group would include one member upon the recommendation of NJSBA and would be required to issue a final report to the governor within six months following its organization.
The NJSBA supports the bill, which has not yet moved in the Assembly.
Excused Absences for Post-Secondary Activities S-3902 would permit excused absences for students participating in college visits, visits to post-secondary technical institutions and military recruitment activities. The bill would provide students in grades 11 or 12 with a cumulative total of three excused absences per school year for the purpose of college visits or visits to postsecondary technical institutions. The bill would also allow a student enrolled in grade 11 or 12 who enlists or plans to enlist in military service and who is absent from school to complete a military recruitment-related activity to receive a state-excused absence for that purpose. The absence would not be included on a student’s transcript, application, employment form or any similar form requested. The absence would also not be considered when determining if a student has a perfect attendance record for the school year. Under the bill, a military recruitment-related activity means any activity required by the Armed Forces of the United States to be eligible to enlist including, but not limited to, any testing, medical or physical evaluations, interviews and fingerprinting. The bill would take effect in the first full school year following the date of enactment.
The NJSBA supports the bill and provided verbal and written testimony in March 2025 highlighting the adoption of a new Association policy at the December 2024 Delegate Assembly. That policy states the following: “The NJSBA believes the New Jersey Department of Education student attendance regulations should include a limited number of state-excused absences per school year for students who seek to participate in activities related to military enlistment that require absence from classroom instruction.” Since that time, the Delegate Assembly has adopted an additional relevant policy at its May 2025 meeting: “The NJSBA believes students should be permitted a limited number of state-excused absences for participation in activities related to pursuing a skilled trade post-graduation.”
The bill has not yet moved in the Assembly.
To view the full text of any of the bills summarized above, please visit the New Jersey Legislature’s website.
