Joint Legislative Hearing on School Responses to Child Abuse and Sexual Misconduct in Schools

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On Thursday, May 31st, the Senate Education and Labor Committees held a joint committee hearing to discuss the issues of teacher sexual misconduct; the reporting of child abuse in schools; and the process for tenure charge arbitration in the case of teacher sexual misconduct.  The hearing was scheduled in response to recent, controversial videos released by Project Veritas, concerning union handling of teacher misconduct cases.

NJPSA was invited to present on these issues during the hours long hearing.  NJPSA Director of Government Relations Debra Bradley, Esq. and David Nash, Esq., Director of Legal One, the comprehensive school law training program offered statewide, testified on behalf of the association. Bradley and Nash provided related testimony on the legal foundations of school law and the child protection system in New Jersey several months ago in the context of the proposed “Pass the Trash” legislation which establishes detailed hiring practices to ensure that applicants with a history of sexual misconduct or child abuse are not hired in our public schools.  This legislation, now enacted into law, P.L. 2018, c. 5, goes into effect on June 1, 2018 and will impact district hiring practices statewide. The NJ Department of Education is expected to issue guidance and standardized hiring forms at any moment.

NJPSA will keep you advised of any further developments in this area.