Bill Text: NJ S3506 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Directs DOE to develop guidelines for school districts and charter schools concerning school discipline that are consistent with certain federal guidelines.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-04 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee [S3506 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-S3506-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator M. TERESA RUIZ
District 29 (Essex)
SYNOPSIS
Directs DOE to develop guidelines for school districts and charter schools concerning school discipline that are consistent with certain federal guidance.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning school discipline and supplementing chapter 37 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Department of Education, within 180 days of the effective date of this act, shall develop and distribute to school districts and charter schools guidelines on school discipline. The purpose of the guidelines shall be to assist school districts and charter schools in enhancing school climate and improving school discipline policies and practices, including ensuring that discipline practices are applied in an equitable and nondiscriminatory manner.
b. The school discipline guidelines developed pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall be consistent with the federal school discipline guidance package issued in January 2014 by the United States Department of Education and the United States Department of Justice, including the January 8, 2014 Dear Colleague Letter on the Nondiscriminatory Administration of School Discipline and the January 2014 document entitled "Guiding Principles: A Resource Guide for Improving School Climate and Discipline."
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
In January 2014, the United States Department of Education, in collaboration with the United States Department of Justice, issued a school discipline guidance package to assist states and schools in improving school discipline practices and ensuring that such practices are nondiscriminatory. This bill directs the New Jersey Department of Education to develop school discipline guidelines to assist local school districts and charter schools in enhancing school climate and improving school discipline policies and practices, including ensuring that discipline practices are applied in an equitable and nondiscriminatory manner. The school discipline guidelines developed by the Department of Education under the bill are required to be consistent with the federal school discipline guidance package, including the January 8, 2014 Dear Colleague Letter on the Nondiscriminatory Administration of School Discipline and the January 2014 document entitled "Guiding Principles: A Resource Guide for Improving School Climate and Discipline."
