By Chris Nelson
As budget season slowly lumbers forward in Trenton, the Legislature is getting back into bill consideration in earnest ahead of expected voting sessions at the end of May and through June. This week, education-related bills were considered in the Senate on Monday, May 11 and the Department of Education provided budget testimony to the Senate Budget Committee on Thursday, May 14.
Senate Education Committee – Monday, May 11
The Education Committee met and advanced the following legislation:
S3426 (Coughlin)/A3882 (Ruiz) – Requires public schools to post link to subsidized school meals application, and certain informational videos related to application, in prominent place on Internet websites. This bill is intended to provide greater access to and usage of the subsidized school meals application. As amended, this measure would require public schools to post a link to the application, as well as a link to at least one informational video produced by the New Jersey Office of the Food Security Advocate regarding the school meals application, in a prominent location on the school’s Internet website. The Senate and Assembly bills were amended to make their language identical and passed out of the Education Committee, and are currently on second reading. They may receive a vote by the full Senate at the Senate President’s discretion. NJPSA supports this measure.
S569 (Beach) – Establishes County-Based School Security Pilot Program in DOE; appropriates $15 million. This measure would require the establishment of a County-Based School Security Pilot Program and of a county-based system of mental health services for public school students The goal would be to provide security infrastructure to certain public schools in Essex, Mercer, and Camden counties for three years. The bill directs the Commissioner of Education to work in collaboration with the Commissioner of Human Services, the Commissioner of Children and Families, and the Director of the State Office of Emergency Management in the Department of Law and Public Safety to implement the pilot program. It includes an appropriation of $15 million. This bill was voted out of the Senate Education Committee and referred to the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee. NJPSA took no position on this measure.
S1340 (Penacchio) – Requires Commissioner of Education to develop guidance on accommodations for certain students fasting for religious or medical reasons. This measure was introduced as a bill that would permit any public high school student who observes Ramadan to opt out of physical education class. Under the original bill as introduced, a student would have been permitted to substitute the required physical education course with an instructional course or study hall for the duration of the marking period in which Ramadan falls. NJPSA worked with the sponsor on substitute language that significantly broadened the direction and scope of the original bill. Rather than focusing solely on permitting Muslim students observing Ramadan to opt out of physical education and athletic participation, the revised language reframes the legislation as a broader student accommodation and wellness measure applicable to students fasting for either religious or medical reasons. The new language shifts the bill away from a narrowly tailored religious exemption and toward statewide guidance on accommodations, scheduling flexibility, differentiated instruction, wellness considerations, and best practices for school staff. In doing so, the substitute expands the bill’s practical impact from a Ramadan-specific policy to a more comprehensive framework for addressing fasting-related student needs across New Jersey schools. This bill was amended as NJPSA recommended and passed out of the Education Committee. It is currently on second reading, and may receive a vote by the full Senate at the Senate President’s discretion. NJPSA supports this measure as amended.
S1767 (Singleton) – Eliminates use of census-based funding of special education aid in school funding law. This measure updates the state statute regarding school funding to eliminate the use of a census-based model for special education aid, and replaces it with an enrollment-based model. This is a formalization of actions that have been taken over the last several budget cycles, writing them into law instead of subjecting them to year-over-year negotiation during the budget process. This bill was voted out of the Senate Education Committee and referred to the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee. NJPSA supports this measure.
S2456 (Bucco) – Requires school bus personnel members to call 911 emergency line in potential life-threatening emergencies; requires certain school buses transporting students with disabilities to be equipped with certain safety features; makes appropriation. This measure was introduced after the tragic death of a vulnerable student while being transported. It has been amended several times as it has progressed. As currently written, it requires bus drivers, school bus aides, and any other individual who works, and is otherwise responsible for the safety of students, on a school bus to call the 911 emergency telephone service for assistance in the event of a potential life-threatening emergency on the bus, and establishes penalties for noncompliance. It includes provisions requiring additional training for the same personnel, to be administered by the employer twice yearly. It also includes a requirement for video monitoring equipment on any bus carrying a student or students with disabilities. This provision includes an appropriation and an assumption that the state will bear that cost. This bill was voted out of the Senate Education Committee and referred to the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee. NJPSA supports this measure as amended.
S2620 (Gopal) – Requires State to bear partial cost of transportation of certain homeless students to school. This bill updates the statute addressing student homelessness. This bill updates the law to require that when a homeless child attends school in their district of residence while temporarily residing in another district, the State will bear any cost for transportation that exceeds the average per pupil cost for transportation services in the district of residence.This bill was voted out of the Senate Education Committee and referred to the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee. NJPSA supports this measure.
S2962 (Mukherji) – Provides seniority service credit to educational support professionals for military service. Under this bill, in calculating seniority for education support professionals, veteran service of up to four years will count for an equivalent number of years of service as a support professional. The state already recognizes this in other areas of education, and this bill would bring support professionals to equity in that sense. The bill was passed out of the Education Committee, is currently on second reading, and may receive a vote by the full Senate at the Senate President’s discretion. NJPSA supports this measure.
S3453 (Beach) – Establishes pilot program in DOE to use therapy dogs in public elementary school wellness programs. This bill seeks to establish a 3-year pilot program within the Department of Education to “assess the academic and health benefits associated with the use of therapy dogs in public elementary school wellness programs.” Under the bill, up to six districts, two in each of the northern, central, and southern portions of the state. Participants would receive “guidance regarding the use of therapy dogs in schools including: examples of activities that students may engage in with a therapy dog; recommended training requirements for therapy dog handlers; recommended measures to evaluate the health and appropriate behavior of therapy dogs; and insurance issues relevant to having therapy dogs on school district property.” It also includes reporting provisions with specific attention to health outcomes and academic performance. The bill was passed out of the Education Committee, is currently on second reading, and may receive a vote by the full Senate at the Senate President’s discretion. NJPSA supports this measure.
S4064 (Greenstein) – Exempts school refunding bond issuances from prior Local Finance Board approval under certain circumstances. This measure is designed to give districts greater flexibility and remove restrictions in refinancing bonds. Per the bill description, “under current law, bonds issued by a school district may be funded or refunded prior to maturity to achieve savings on debt service payments. Current law permits a school district meeting all of the conditions specified by the regulations of the Local Finance Board in the Department of Community Affairs to authorize and issue refunding bonds without prior approval of the Local Finance Board, where the issuance of those refunding bonds realizes debt service savings on the outstanding obligations. Current regulations of the Local Finance Board require that one of the conditions for the issuance of refunding bonds by school districts is that the present value savings of the issuance be at least three percent. This bill lowers the threshold to permit refunding bonds without prior Local Finance Board approval where the present value savings is at least two percent, instead of three percent under current requirements.” The bill was voted out of the Senate Education Committee and referred to the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee. NJPSA Supports this measure and the amendments.
Senate Labor Committee – Monday, May 11
The Senate Labor Committee also met and considered several pieces of legislation, including one that would affect the educational community:
S2136 (Moriarty) – Requires employers to include in job posting whether posting is for existing position and sets additional job posting requirements. This bill is aimed at reducing misleading or “ghost” job postings by requiring employers and third-party job boards to be more transparent and timely. Under the proposed language, any public job posting would have to clearly state whether the job is an actual open vacancy; if it is, the posting must include an estimated timeline for filling the position. If it is not, it must clearly disclose that there is no current opening and be removed after 90 days. Employers must take down job postings shortly after a position is filled and notify third-party sites to do the same. The Department of Labor may audit compliance, and civil penalties apply for violations, with each week of a noncompliant posting treated as a separate offense. The bill contains monetary penalties for noncompliance. This bill has been amended considerably and we are engaged with the sponsors and their staff. However, NJPSA continues to oppose it, and is working to advance an amendment that would exempt the education sector from the requirements of this bill. Other education stakeholder groups, including the NJ School Boards Association, have spoken in opposition and are seeking exemption of schools from the bill’s provisions. The bill was passed out of the Senate Labor Committee and has been referenced to the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee. NJPSA opposes this legislation and is seeking further amendment.
Senate Budget and Appropriations – Thursday, May 14
The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee received testimony from Department of Education Commissioner Dr. Lily Laux and Schools Development Authority Executive Director Manny DeSilva. The testimony of both individuals largely mirrored that given to the Assembly Budget Committee in the same capacity back in April, although questioning by the Committee members in the Senate followed a different track. In approximately three hours of testimony, they addressed concerns about fairness and equity in the school funding formula, equity in access to quality education, literacy standards, facilities improvement and funding, pre-K growth and expansion, and testing – among others.
Their testimony may be reviewed here: https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/archived-media/2026/SBAB-meeting-list/media-player?committee=SBAB&agendaDate=2026-05-14-10:00:00&agendaType=H&av=V
After Thursday’s hearing, only three days remain of dedicated budget hearings. The Legislature will begin to compile what they received during that public testimony and apply their changes to the Governor’s proposed budget document. Once an agreement is reached on the final document, it will move through the respective Budget Committees in each house before moving to the floor and then on to signature by the Governor. The deadline to complete that process is midnight on June 30.
NJPSA’s testimony to both budget committees may be found here: https://njpsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/NJPSA-FY-2027-budget-testimony-5.pdf