A1184 A4414 AS ACS

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman ANDREW ZWICKER

District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)

Assemblyman HERB CONAWAY, JR.

District 7 (Burlington)

Assemblyman ANTHONY S. VERRELLI

District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)

Assemblyman RALPH R. CAPUTO

District 28 (Essex)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywomen Lampitt, Murphy, Jasey, Vainieri Huttle, Timberlake and Reynolds-Jackson

SYNOPSIS

Requires School Report Card to include demographic breakdown of students who receive disciplinary actions; requires Commissioner of Education to establish Statewide database concerning certain disciplinary actions.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

Substitute as adopted by the General Assembly.

An Act concerning student disciplinary actions and amending P.L.1995, c.235 and P.L.1982, c.163.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. Section 3 of P.L.1995, c.235 (C.18A:7E-3) is amended to read as follows:

3. Report cards issued pursuant to section 2 of this act shall include, but not be limited to, the following information for:

a. the school district and for each school within the district, as appropriate:

(1) results of the elementary assessment programs;

(2) results of the Early Warning Test;

(3) results of the High School Proficiency Test;

(4) daily attendance records for students and professional staff;

(5) student graduation and dropout rates;

(6) annual student scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test;

(7) total student enrollment, percentage of limited English proficient students, percentage of students in advanced placement courses, and any other school characteristics which the commissioner deems appropriate;

(8) instructional resources including teacher/student ratio, average class size and amount of instructional time per day, as calculated by formulas specified by the commissioner;

(9) a written narrative by the school principal or a designee which describes any special achievements, events, problems or initiatives of the school or district;

(10) data identifying the number and nature of all reports of harassment, intimidation, or bullying;

(11) indicators of student career readiness;

(12) the number and percentage of students who were chronically absent, as defined in rules and regulations promulgated by the Commissioner of Education within 90 days of the effective date of P.L.2018, c.23 (C.18A:38-25.1 et al.), including the number and percentage of students who were chronically absent disaggregated by multiple student subgroups to be determined by the commissioner; and

(13) the number [and] , percentage, and demographics, including race, gender, disability, and grade level, of students who received a disciplinary [suspension] action, including suspensions, expulsions, law enforcement referrals, and arrests by category of offense; and

b. the school district, as appropriate:

(1) per pupil expenditures and State aid ratio;

(2) percent of budget allocated for salaries and benefits of administrative personnel;

(3) percent of budget allocated for salaries and benefits of teachers;

(4) percentage increase over the previous year for salaries and benefits of administrative and instructional personnel;

(5) the number of administrative personnel and the ratio of administrative personnel to instructional personnel;

(6) a profile of the most recent graduating class concerning their educational or employment plans following graduation; and

(7) any other information which the commissioner deems appropriate.

For the purposes of this section, the Commissioner of Education shall establish a uniform methodology for the reporting of the data concerning administrative personnel on a full-time equivalent basis.

(cf: P.L.2018, c.23, s.1)

2. Section 3 of P.L.1982, c.163 (C.18A:17-48) is amended to read as follows:

3. a. The Commissioner of Education shall each year submit a report to the Education Committees of the Senate and General Assembly detailing the extent of violence, vandalism, and harassment, intimidation, or bullying in the public schools and [making recommendations to alleviate the problem] documenting steps taken to verify and validate school district reporting. The report shall be made available annually to the public no later than October 1, and shall be posted on the department's website.

b. The Commissioner of Education shall each year compile the information reported by each school district to the Department of Education pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1982, c.163 (C.18A:17-46) into a Statewide database. The database shall be posted on the department’s Internet website. At a minimum, the database shall provide school level totals for each category of student disciplinary actions, including in-school suspensions, out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, referrals to law enforcement, and arrests, as well as demographic information of the students who received the disciplinary action.

(cf: P.L.2010, c.122, s.8)

3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first apply to the first full school year following the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

Under current law, the Commissioner of Education is required to administer the School Report Card Program, which provides for the annual preparation and dissemination of school report cards for parents and other interested parties within each district. As required by law, the school report card contains various information and data including, but not limited to, information on the number and percentage of students who received a disciplinary suspension. This bill amends current law to require the report card to include information on the number, percentage, and demographics of students who received a disciplinary action.

Current law requires the superintendent of schools of each school district to report, two times each school year, to the board of education all acts of violence, vandalism, and harassment, intimidation, or bullying that occurred during the previous reporting period, including the type and nature of any discipline imposed on any student engaged in harassment, intimidation, or bullying. This information must also be reported once during each reporting period to the Department of Education. Under this bill, the Commissioner of Education will compile the data received from each school district into a Statewide database. The bill requires the database to be posted on the department’s Internet website. The database must, at a minimum, include school level totals for each category of student disciplinary actions, including in-school suspensions, out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, referrals to law enforcement, and arrests, as well as demographic information of the students who received the disciplinary action.