In the final voting sessions before the Legislature goes on its traditional summer recess, several bills affect New Jersey school districts and students were sent to Governor Sherrill’s desk. A summary of those bills and any other that received committee consideration or passed one house follows below.
Bills Signed Into Law
Short-Term Relief for SEHBP S-4507/A-5330 is legislation that was fast-tracked in June in order to prevent a potential mid-year increase in active enrollee premiums under the School Employees Health Benefits Program (SEHBP). The measure permits the Treasury to temporarily transfer funds from the health benefits fund for local education retirees to the health benefits fund for active education employees and their dependents. Specifically, such transfer would be permitted if available funds in the health benefits fund for active education employees and their dependents fall to a level that is insufficient to cover 10 days of anticipated payments. A similar action was taken by the Legislature and Governor in 2024 to prevent the local portion of the State Health Benefits Program (SHBP) from running out of money.
The amount transferred must not exceed the amount necessary to cover 30 days of anticipated payments. Further, the transfer is to be reimbursed within 120 days, except under certain circumstances the Treasury may extend that reimbursement date by up to an additional 365 days.
The NJSBA supported the bill, citing the need for immediate action to avoid mid-year SEHBP premium increases. “It buys us some time,” NJSBA testified, while policymakers and stakeholders “have a larger discussion about how we’re going to bring down the cost of healthcare.” Absent this action, the SEHBP would have run out of money to pay claims in the coming months. There was growing speculation that the program would have needed to increase premiums the middle of the year to shore up its claim stabilization reserve fund. Such a move would have exacerbated the 32% increase that went into effect on January 1, at a time when another double digit increase is anticipated for 2027.
The NJSBA continues to urge boards of education to adopt a resolution urging the Governor and Legislature to enact long-term solutions to the growing health care crisis across all New Jersey’s school districts. A copy of that resolution can be found on the NJSBA website here.
On Governor’s Desk
The following bills have passed both houses of the Legislature and now await action by the Governor.
School-based Partnerships for Access and Resilience for Kids (SPARK) S-4413/A-5235 would establish the SPARK pilot program in DCF. The purpose of the program would 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 bill designates the contracted service provider for DCF’s Child Collaborative Mental Health Care Program as the SPARK pilot program navigator. The budget committees approved significant clarifying amendments to the bill on June 28. Under the amended bill:
- DCF, in consultation with DOE, will select up to ten districts to participate in the pilot program. The pilot would begin Jan 1, 2027, and run for 18 months.
- Participating districts would be required to:
- develop – in accordance with guidelines issued by DCF in consultation with DOE – a comprehensive mental health support and partnership program. Under such 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
- 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”
- 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.
While the bill 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.
Payments for Non-Resident Students in Renaissance Schools S-3614/A-4678 concerns the provision of payments for non-resident students who enroll at a renaissance school project. Under the bill, the school district in which a renaissance school project is located would be required to pay the per pupil amount for each student that resides in the district, but for all students enrolled in the renaissance school project that do not reside in the district in which the project is located, the bill would require the student’s school district of residence to pay the per pupil.
The NJSBA is monitoring the bill.
Renewable Energy Contracts A-4959/S-4162, designated as the “Affordable Power Purchase Agreements Extension Act,” would amend current law regarding renewable energy power purchase agreements. Under current law, certain public entities, including boards of education, are authorized to enter into – without public advertising for bids – energy contracts for a term not to exceed 15 years. The bill would extend that maximum allowable term to 30 years.
The NJSBA is monitoring the bill.
Seniority Service Credit for ESPs S-2962/A-2746 would 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 would be credited towards this employment or seniority credit, including service that occurred before the professional’s employment as an educational support professional. Current law provides 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 bill would provide a similar benefit to educational support professionals.
The NJSBA is monitoring the bill.
Spring Break Recommendations A-5167/S-170 would require the commissioner of education to annually recommend – but not require – the dates on which a school district would be permitted to close its schools for spring break. To assist school districts in the development of their school calendars, the commissioner would be required to inform districts of the recommended dates for spring break no later than June 30 of the prior school year.
The NJSBA is monitoring the bill.
Establishing a Social Media Research CenterA-4014/S-3411, as approved by the Assembly Appropriations Committee, would establish a Social Media Research Center at a four-year institution of higher education to carry out and support research on understanding social media use, mitigating the negative impacts of social media, and promoting healthy and responsible social media use. The host institution would be selected by the Secretary of Higher Education in coordination with the Department of Health’s Office of Youth Online Mental Health Safety and Awareness.
The Center’s responsibilities would include, among others, providing schools free online courses and training modules concerning safe social media use and submitting a report to the Governor and Legislature within one year of its establishment.
The NJSBA supports the legislation.
Social Media Use and Advertising A-4013/S-3412, as approved by the Assembly Appropriations Committee, would require the Social Media Research Center established by the above bill to research and make recommendations – in coordination with the Office of Youth Online Mental Health Safety and Awareness within the Department of Health – regarding various aspects of youth social media behaviors.
The NJSBA supports the bill.
New Jersey Kids Code Act S-3413/A-4015, or the “New Jersey Kids Code Act,” as amended would require covered online service providers to implement certain measures to protect minors’ online privacy.
The NJSBA supports the bill.
Senate Voting Sessions
The full Senate also advanced the following bills before going on summer recess. They have yet to be considered in the Assembly:
Graduation Credits for Fire Academy Courses S-1343 would permit a student who completes a course at a county fire academy to be eligible to receive credit toward meeting the high school graduation requirements for career readiness or career and technic education if the student and the course meet certain criteria.
The NJSBA is monitoring the bill.
Nonpublic Discipline Records S-1819 would require a nonpublic school to forward to a school district the student disciplinary records of a nonpublic school student who transfers to the school district within 14 calendar days of the district’s request. The nonpublic school would also be required to notify the school district of any information the nonpublic school may have received from a court or a law enforcement or prosecuting agency regarding any offense with which the student may have been charged. This proposed procedure would be similar to the one required when a student transfers from one public school to another.
The NJSBA supports the bill.
Voting Instruction S-2912 would require the State Board of Education to adopt New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS) in Social Studies pertaining to voting and ensure that instruction on voting is incorporated in an appropriate place in the curriculum of students in grade 12. The instruction must provide students with information on the importance of voting, voter registration, and how to vote. The requirement would first be applicable in the first full school year following enactment.
The NJSBA testified on the bill during committee deliberations and is seeking an amendment that would allow the State Board to complete its NJSLS review process before requiring districts to incorporate voting instruction into the curriculum. As currently worded, the bill would require districts to include this instruction in the next school year, prior to the NJSLS being updated.
Safe Transportation for Students with Disabilities S-2456 would require school bus drivers and aides to call 911 in potential life-threatening emergencies and would require school buses transporting students with disabilities with specialized transportation requirements to be equipped with certain safety features. Under the bill, drivers and aides would be required to report a 911 call to the Office of Special Education in the NJDOE, and a board of education or a school bus contractor providing pupil transportation services under contract would need to maintain a record of such calls.
The bill would also expand the twice-per-year safety training requirements for drivers and aides – and the required training program for interacting with students with disabilities – to include, in addition to current requirements, information on “understanding behaviors or other signs that may indicate circumstances in which a potential life-threatening emergency…is occurring on a school bus,” and require employers to maintain and send to the Department of Education certain certifications that their drivers and aides have completed the required twice-per-year safety training.
The bill also requires a school bus that transports one or more students with disabilities with specialized transportation requirements to be equipped with: 1) a video camera on the interior of the school bus to monitor student safety while the students are being transported; 2) a global positioning system that provides information about the location and speed of each school bus in real time; and 3) two-way communications equipment, which may include a cellular telephone. As amended, the bill would permit districts to apply to the Motor Vehicle Commission for grants to purchase and install the required equipment.
Previous versions of the bill would have applied these training and 911 requirements to additional school bus personnel; the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee June 24 amendments ensure they’d apply only to drivers and aides.
In the 2024-2025 legislative session, the NJSBA successfully obtained an amendment to the original bill that added a grant program to provide funding to districts to cover costs of the installation of equipment required by the bill. However, that provision is unclear as to what would happen if the grant program were not fully funded. The NJSBA has expressed overall support for the bill, but continues to work with the sponsor of the legislation to clarify that language.
Revised FAFSA Graduation Requirement S-3245 would make permanent the requirement that students complete a financial aid application as a prerequisite for receiving a high school diploma, unless a waiver is submitted. 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.
The NJSBA has expressed 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.
Assembly Voting Session
The full Assembly also passed the following bills before going on summer recess. They have not yet passed the full Senate.
Unexpended Aid for Nonpublic Programs A-5153, as amended, would require any unexpended nonpublic school nursing services aid or nonpublic school security aid refunded to the state after the completion of a school year to be used to increase the maximum amount of nonpublic school transportation costs for the following school year.
The NJSBA is monitoring the bill, which was approved by the Assembly Education Committee June 15. Its Senate counterpart, S-4366, was approved by the Senate Education Committee on June 1.
Assembly Budget Committee
On June 28, the Assembly Budget Committee approved the following bill.
Restoring 100% PEA Funding to First Two Years of Cost-Sharing Pilot A-5239 would restore 100% PEA funding to school districts that first received PEA in the 25-26 or 26-27 school years. Under current law, those districts are subject to the cost-sharing pilot program established under P.L.2025, c.100. The NJSBA is monitoring the bill. Its Senate counterpart S-4281 was approved by the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee June 24.
Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee
On June 24, the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee approved the following bills.
Nonpublic SLEO III Services Under S-4151, a school district that procures Class Three Special Law Enforcement Officers (SLEO III) services for its schools would also be required to procure SLEO III services for nonpublic schools in the district. The school district would also be responsible for compensating the local unit for those security services. Further, the bill: authorizes SLEO IIIs to exercise full powers and duties similar to those of a permanent, regularly appointed full-time police officer while providing security at a church, mosque, synagogue, temple, or any other building used by a congregation as a place of religious worship; and authorizes nonpublic schools to enter into MOUs with a local unit for security services.
The NJSBA opposes the bill, and is seeking amendments to make these expansions of SLEO III services into nonpublic schools permissive rather than mandatory. Its Assembly counterpart A-1933 has not yet moved.
Nonpublic School Nursing Services Pilot S-4260 would require the commissioner of education to establish, supervise, and fund a three-year non-public school nursing services pilot program in an eligible county through a county consortium. It 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 consortium.
The NJSBA is monitoring the bill, which was passed by the Legislature in the 2024-2025 legislative session but was pocket vetoed by Gov. Murphy. This session, S-4260 was approved by the Senate Education Committee June. Its counterpart in the Assembly A-5085 was approved by the Assembly Education Committee June 15.
