ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY SUBSTITUTE FOR

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

ASSEMBLY, Nos. 1184 and 4414

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  NOVEMBER 15, 2021

The Assembly Appropriations Committee reports favorably an Assembly Substitute for Assembly Bill Nos. 1184 and 4414, with committee amendments.

As amended, this bill requires school report cards, issued pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1995, c.235 (C.18A:7E-2) under the School Report Card Program administered by the Commissioner of Education, to include information on the number, percentage, and demographics, including race, gender, disability, grade level, and eligibility for free or reduced price lunch under the National School Lunch Program, of students who received one or more suspensions or expulsions or who were reported to or arrested by law enforcement, by category of offense pursuant to the provisions of the Uniform State Memorandum of Agreement Between Education and Law Enforcement Officials.

     The bill also requires the Commissioner of Education to compile data received from each school district pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1982, c.163 (C.18A:17-46) into a Statewide database to be posted on the department’s Internet website.  The database is required to, at a minimum, include school level totals for each category of student disciplinary actions, including in-school suspensions, out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, use of physical restraint or seclusion techniques, referrals to law enforcement, and arrests, as well as demographic information of the students who received the disciplinary action. 

     As amended and reported by the committee, this bill is identical to Senate Bill No. 1020 (2R), which was amended and reported by the committee on this same date.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to:

      (1)  require that the school report cards include information on the number, percentage, and demographics, including eligibility for free or reduced price lunch under the National School Lunch program, of students who received one or more suspensions or expulsions or who were reported to or arrested by law enforcement by category of offense, pursuant to the provisions of the Uniform State Memorandum of Agreement Between Education and Law Enforcement Officials; and

      (2)  require the Commissioner of Education to include school level totals for the use of physical restraint and seclusion techniques in the Statewide database established pursuant to the provisions of the bill.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      This bill is not certified as requiring a fiscal note.