ASSEMBLY SUBSTITUTE FOR

 

SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE, Nos. 540 and 897 and ASSEMBLY, No. 920

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

 

ADOPTED MAY 30, 1996

 

Sponsored by Assemblymen ROCCO, DORIA, Senators Inverso, Lesniak, Ewing, and McGreevey

 

An Act concerning school dress codes and supplementing chapter 11 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.

 

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

 

      1. The Legislature finds and declares that many educators believe that school dress can significantly influence pupil behavior and that schools that have adopted dress codes, including dress codes which require school uniforms and which prohibit clothing indicating membership in certain gangs, experience greater school pride and improved behavior in and out of the classroom. The Legislature further finds that to assist in controlling the environment in public schools, to facilitate and maintain an effective learning environment, and to keep the focus of the classroom on learning, school districts should be specifically authorized to implement uniform clothing requirements for their students.

 

      2. a. A board of education may adopt a dress code policy which may include a requirement that students wear a school uniform if such a policy is requested by the principal, staff and parents of an individual school and if the board determines that the policy will enhance the school learning environment. Any policy adopted which requires the wearing of a uniform shall include a provision to assist economically disadvantaged students. The board shall hold a public hearing prior to the adoption of the policy and shall not implement the policy with less than three months notice to the parents or guardians of the students. The specific uniform selected shall be determined by the principal, staff, and parents of the individual school.

      b. The board of education shall provide a method whereby parents may choose not to comply with an adopted school uniform policy. A student shall not be penalized academically or otherwise discriminated against nor denied admittance to school if the student's parents choose not to comply with the school uniform policy.

      c. A dress code policy adopted pursuant to this section shall not preclude students who participate in a nationally recognized youth organization which is approved by the board of education from wearing organization uniforms to school on days that the organization has scheduled a meeting.

 

      3. A board of education may adopt a dress code policy to prohibit students from wearing, while on school property, any type of clothing, apparel or accessory which indicates that the student has membership in, or affiliation with, any gang associated with criminal activities. The local law enforcement agency shall advise the board, upon its request, of gangs which are associated with criminal activities.

 

      4. This act shall take effect immediately.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

      This Assembly substitute authorizes a board of education to adopt a dress code policy which may include a requirement that students wear a school uniform if such a policy is requested by the principal, staff and parents of an individual school and if the board determines that the policy will enhance the school's learning environment. Any policy adopted which requires the wearing of a school uniform must include a provision to assist economically disadvantaged students. Prior to the adoption of the policy, the board must hold a public hearing and may not implement the policy with less than three months notice to the parents or guardians of the students. Any uniform selected would be determined by the principal, staff, and parents of the individual school.

      Under the substitute's provisions, a school board must provide a method whereby parents may choose not to comply with an adopted school uniform policy. A student would not be penalized academically or otherwise discriminated against nor denied admittance to school if the student's parents choose not to comply with the policy.

      The substitute also provides that a board of education may adopt a dress code policy to prohibit students from wearing, while on school property, any type of clothing, apparel or accessory which indicates that the student has membership in, or affiliation with, any gang associated with criminal activities. The local law enforcement agency is required to advise the board, upon its request, of gangs which are associated with criminal activities.


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Permits a school board to adopt dress code policy.