-Jennie Lamon, Assistant Director of Government Relations
On December 19th, the NJ State General Assembly and the NJ State Senate both held their final voting sessions of 2024. The last sessions of the calendar year were significant in part because three longstanding members of the Legislature will not be returning in the new year. Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt (D-Cherry Hill) won election to Camden County’s clerkship and must resign her seat in the Legislature by Jan. 1. As the esteemed chair of the Assembly Education Committee for the past seven years, Lampitt leaves big shoes to fill. As of the time of this writing, no successor has been named to chair the Assembly Education Committee.
Sen. Nellie Pou (D-Passaic) and Assemblyman Herb Conaway Jr. (D-Burlington), will both be sworn into the United States House or Representatives in Washington DC on.January 3rd. Pou was elected in November to fill the seat of Rep. Bill Pascrell, who passed away in August, while Conaway replaced Sen. Andy Kim, who won a seat in the U.S. Senate, after running to fill the seat vacated by Sen. Bob Menendez. Lampitt, Pou and Conaway all gave heartfelt goodbye speeches during their last legislative sessions in the Statehouse Thursday.
Both houses also acted on several education-related bills.
A-1657 would permit a student assistance coordinator, school counselor, or school psychologist or other mental health professional working in a school district to refer, or help facilitate the referral of, a student to an individual or practice licensed to provide professional counseling, for mental health assessments and services. A student assistance coordinator, school counselor, or school psychologist or other mental health professional working in a school district is prohibited from referring a student to an individual or practice licensed to provide professional counseling with whom the district employee, or the employee’s immediate family, or the employee in combination with his or her family has a significant beneficial interest.
In the case of a student who is not legally permitted to consent to the assessments and services, the student’s parent or guardian is to be notified of the referral or the facilitation of the referral, and the parent or guardian is required to consent prior to the provision of any assessment or service by the licensed private individual or practice.
In the case of a referral or the facilitation of a referral of a student to an individual or practice licensed to provide professional counseling, the bill provides that neither the school district nor the individual making the referral or facilitating the referral will be required to bear the cost of the assessments and services provided to the student.
This bill would not limit a school district’s authority to provide mental health assessments and services to students prior to or after a referral or the facilitation of a referral has been made to an individual or practice licensed to provide professional counseling. The Assembly passed this bill by a vote of (56-12-4). The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration. NJPSA supports this bill.
A-4220 revises the Statewide transfer agreements for the transfer of academic credit and reverse credit transfer at participating institutions of higher education and establishes the New Jersey Transfer Ombudsperson within the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education.
A-4220, sponsored by Assemblywoman Pamela R. Lampitt, Assemblyman Cody D. Miller, and Assemblywoman Linda S. Carter directs the Secretary of Higher Education to establish academic credit transfer standards and reverse credit transfer standards. The bill would also create the position of New Jersey Transfer Ombudsperson, who would facilitate a resolution in disputes between students and institutions.
Updating previously enacted legislation, known as the “Lampitt Law,” which established a universal credit equivalency program to provide a seamless transfer of college credits by institutions of higher education, A-4220 would streamline credit transfers, resolve disputes between students and institutions, and ensure transparency for those navigating the transfer process. The bill requires the statewide transfer agreement must address credits earned under the dual enrollment program. The legislation also requires the New Jersey Transfer Ombudsperson to collect and report data related to the number of student transfers between four-year public institutions and the number of student transfers between county colleges and four-year public institutions. It would also require the Secretary of Higher Education to review the transfer agreement every five years. This bill passed in Assembly (70-1-2) and now awaits action by the Senate. NJPSA supports this bill.
Extends statutory pause on collection of student growth objective data
A-5077, which extends the moratorium on the development of new teacher SGOs into the 2025-26 school year and beyond for tenured teachers, until the readoption of N.J.A.C. 6A:10, the state regulations implementing the TEACH NJ Act. This extension is necessary for the continuation of the work of the NJ Educator Evaluation Task Force. Governor Murphy has already adopted one of the Task Force’s recommendations to establish a NJDOE-led Working Group to further consider and work on the actualization of recommendations of the Task Force. This will take time, so the Legislature is being proactive in addressing the issue of SGOs and administrator goals for the upcoming school years. NJPSA strongly supports this approach.
NJPSA was successful in our effort to specifically include tenured principals, assistant principals and vice-principals in the moratorium. This means that if the bill is signed into law, tenured principals, assistant principals and vice-principals will not be required to collect new administrative goals data in support of their administrator goals in 2025-2026 and beyond until new administrative code is adopted. This gives administrators serving in the role of principal, assistant principals and vice principals the same treatment as their teachers concerning the setting of new administrator goals.
Please note that the bill does not currently mention the title of “supervisor” or “director” as the TEACH NJ statute’s provisions on educator evaluation do not specifically mention these job titles, only teachers, principals, assistant principals and vice principals. The administrative code on the evaluation of supervisor/ directors (N.J.A.C. 6A:10) leaves the decision-making about the components of supervisor/director evaluation to the local level. Additionally, as district practices vary on whether supervisors and directors are required to develop administrator goals in evaluation, individuals in supervisor and director positions are encouraged to discuss this issue locally with their superintendents if the bill is eventually signed into law. NJPSA will keep you advised of any developments in this area.
A-5077 also seeks to correct an oversight of P.L. 2024, Chapter 14 that has occurred in many districts, namely the situation where a tenured teacher is unhappy with the SGO score being utilized in the 2024-2025 summative evaluation process. A-5077 will allow teachers, principals, assistant principals and vice-principals who are unhappy with the use of a prior year’s SGO/Administrator goals score to do new goals and collect data in support of those goals through a new SGO or administrator goal. The educator would have to notify their direct supervisor and the school principal of this intent by September 30 of the school year the educator seeks to do a new SGO or administrator goal. In this case, the current rules for the submission of SGOs/administrator goals by October 31 will continue to be in place. Also, an educator’s ability to revise an SGO goal or administrator goal mid-year will continue to be an option.
The Assembly passed this bill on Thursday by a vote of (61-2-8). The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration. NJPSA will keep you informed of this bill’s process. NJPSA Supports this bill.
Provides health care benefits to disabled members of TPAF and PERS
A-5118 permits members of the Teachers’ Pension and Annuity Fund (TPAF) and Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS), or long term disability insurance recipients who are disabled and receiving TPAF or PERS disability insurance benefits, to be entitled to health care benefits under the School Employees’ Health Benefits Program (SEHBP) and State Health Benefits Program (SHBP) in the same manner as it is provided to retirees of the TPAF and PERS retirement systems who receive health insurance under the SEHBP and SHBP, except that such health care benefits are to be free and will not require employee contributions.
The bill provides that there is no deadline for disability insurance recipients to enroll in coverage and no eligibility requirements imposed to receive coverage, other than the member being required to be a recipient of disability insurance under TPAF or PERS.
The bill also specifies that health benefits are not to be considered as benefits that reduce the amount that disabled TPAF or PERS members would receive in disability benefits and, for pension purposes, the member is to be considered as if the member was in active service for the duration of the time the disability benefit is received.
The bill was passed by the Assembly (70-0-1). The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration. NJPSA Supports this bill.
This joint resolution designates the second Friday in December of each year as “PSRPs in Our Schools Day” in New Jersey to recognize the contributions of paraprofessionals and school-related personnel (PSRPs). Under the resolution, the Governor and the Legislature call upon the State’s citizens to participate in the observance of this day.
PSRPs provide valuable services within the State’s schools, including: one-on-one or small-group tutoring for students; assisting with classroom management; acting as translators; providing instructional support; supervising students during non-instructional times; preparing and serving nutritious meals; maintaining a clean, safe, and attractive learning environment; and assisting in the transportation of students to and from school. SJR-76 was passed by the Assembly on Thursday by a vote of (71-0-0). Having previously been passed by the Senate this past October , this joint resolution has now passed both houses. NJPSA supports this bill.
S-1548 requires school districts to adopt a policy concerning a student’s use of sunscreen and sun-protective clothing, such as hats and sunglasses, while outdoors at school and school-sponsored functions. The policy is not to require a student to provide documentation from a physician or other licensed health care professional in order to use sunscreen or sun-protective clothing while outdoors at school or a school-sponsored function.
S-1548 was unanimously passed by the Senate by a vote of (38-0). The bill has now been referred to the General Assembly for consideration, NJPSA worked with the sponsor and other education stakeholder groups to secure amendments stipulating that the policy may require written permission from a student’s parent or guardian to allow the student to carry or use sunscreen at school or a school-sponsored function. The amended bill also stipulates that nothing in the policy is to be construed as requiring school personnel to assist a student in applying sunscreen.
If you would like to discuss, or have questions about any of the legislative initiatives that moved this week, please contact your NJPSA Government Relations team. Department Director Debbie Bradley dbradley@njpsa.org or Assistant Director Jennie Lamon jlamon@njpsa.org.
If you are interested in legislation and education policy, please consider joining the NJPSA Legislative Committee. We meet approximately four times a year to discuss and develop positions on pending legislation and regulations. We always have lively and often entertaining discussions! Email jlamon@njpsa.org for more information or to join our committee!
Happy Holidays! And, thank you for all that you do!