SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 288

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: JUNE 3, 1996

      The Senate Education Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 288 with committee amendments.

      As amended, this bill requires a board of education to establish a policy to address the cost of the graduation ceremony and the cost of a yearbook for graduating pupils who have a financial hardship. The bill further provides that no graduating pupil could be excluded from a graduation ceremony whose parent, legal guardian or other person having legal custody of the pupil is unable to pay the fees required for that graduation ceremony because of financial hardship. In determining financial hardship, the criteria would be the same as the Statewide eligibility standards established by the State Board of Education for free and reduced price meals under the State school lunch program.

      Some school districts have imposed a graduation fee in excess of $200 which includes charges for such items as the rental of a cap and gown.

      The committee amended the bill to require a policy addressing the cost of the graduation ceremony and the cost of a yearbook and to delete reference to receipt of a yearbook.