Bill Text: NJ A1974 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires school districts to permit students excused absences while experiencing symptoms of menstrual disorder.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee [A1974 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A1974-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman SHANIQUE SPEIGHT
District 29 (Essex and Hudson)
Assemblywoman SHAMA A. HAIDER
District 37 (Bergen)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Reynolds-Jackson
SYNOPSIS
Requires school districts to permit students excused absences while experiencing symptoms of menstrual disorders.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning excused absences from public school and supplementing chapter 36 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. As used in this section:
"Dysmenorrhea" means a disorder that causes severe and frequent menstrual cramps and pain during menstruation.
"Endometriosis" means a disorder that causes pelvic pain that is often associated with menstruation.
"Menorrhagia" means a disorder that causes heavy or prolonged bleeding during menstruation, often accompanied by a lack of energy.
"Polycystic ovary syndrome" means a disorder that may cause cysts and irregular periods.
b. During the course of each school year, a pupil of a public school experiencing symptoms of a menstrual disorder shall be entitled to ten excused absences from school, for which the pupil shall be given the opportunity to make up any school work missed during the absence. Menstrual disorders shall include, but are not limited to, dysmenorrhea, endometriosis, menorrhea, and polycystic ovarian syndrome.
c. The absences from school during which time a pupil is experiencing symptoms of a menstrual disorder shall be recorded as excused absences on the pupil's attendance record or on that of any group or class of which the pupil is a member. Any transcript, application, employment form, or any similar form on which information concerning a pupil's attendance record is requested shall not show, with respect to absences, any excused absences authorized pursuant to this subsection. In making a determination on whether or not a pupil has a perfect attendance record for the school year, a school district shall not consider as an absence an excused absence authorized pursuant to this subsection.
d. A pupil shall provide such medical documentation as the superintendent or administrative principal of the school district deems necessary to prove the pupil meets the requirements for the excused absence related to menstrual disorders under subsection b. of this section.
2. The Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health, shall provide school districts with criteria for defining an excused absence from school related to a menstrual disorder.
3. This act shall take effect 180 days following the date of enactment, but shall remain inoperative until the first day of the first full school year following the effective date. The Commissioner of Education may take such anticipatory action as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill entitles a student experiencing a menstrual disorder to ten excused absences from school while the student is experiencing symptoms. The absences will be considered State-recognized excused absences. Under the bill, menstrual disorders shall include, but are not limited to, dysmenorrhea, endometriosis, menorrhea, and polycystic ovarian syndrome.
The absences would not count toward the 10 percent of days missed before a student is considered "chronically absent" and cannot be used to exclude a student from any awards or recognition on the basis of attendance. As an excused absence, students are required to be given the opportunity to make up any school work that was missed while the student was experiencing symptoms of a menstrual disorder. In order to have the absence recognized as an approved menstrual disorder absence the student may be required by the school district to provide any medical documentation which the superintendent or administrative principal of the school district deems necessary.
This bill requires the Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health, to provide school districts with criteria for defining an excused absence related to a menstrual disorder.
This bill aims to address period poverty, the term used to describe the circumstance surrounding an individual's inadequate access to menstrual hygiene tools and education, including, but not limited to, access to menstrual products. Menstruating students of color, as well as students from low-income communities, are more likely to experience period poverty.
Menstrual disorders, and the pain and discomfort associated with them, are often cited as the reason menstruating students miss school days. Menstrual disorders are also fairly common; one in five menstruating students experience menorrhagia, and nearly 70 percent of menstruating students experience dysmenorrhea. Students who attend class while experiencing a menstrual disorder often report classroom performance or concentration being negatively affected. Additionally, nearly one third of students who menstruate report missing at least one day of school while experiencing menstruation. Recent studies have shown that students are significantly more likely to be absent from school on days when they are experiencing menstruation relative to other school days.
