Bill Text: NJ A1163 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Prohibits public school fund-raising activities which include unsupervised door-to-door sales by students.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee [A1163 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A1163-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
218th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2018 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman EDWARD H. THOMSON
District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Prohibits public school fund-raising activities which include unsupervised door-to-door sales by students.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning fund-raising activities by public school districts 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. The Legislature finds and declares that the past 25 years have witnessed significant changes in the structure of communities and families within the State; that the make-up of communities and neighborhoods has become more fluid as increasing numbers of people are required to move fairly frequently from one community to another due to professional and occupational demands; that both the rise in the number of families in which two parents are working outside of the home, as well as the increase in the number of single parent families in which the principal caretaker must be employed outside of the home, have meant that fewer parents are available during the day to provide direct supervision of their children's activities; and that all of these factors make it advisable to re-examine the fund-raising activities in which public school students have been engaged to determine their appropriateness in light of changing societal factors and to revise those practices when necessary to better protect the health and safety of students.
2. a. No public school or school-sponsored organization including, but not limited to, a school sports team, band, extracurricular activity club, booster club, or parent-teacher organization shall engage in any fund-raising activity that includes unsupervised door-to-door sales by students. For the purposes of this act, a door-to-door sales activity is supervised only if it is conducted under the direct supervision of an adult who is at least 21 years of age and who is approved by school officials to supervise the activity.
As used in this section, "door-to-door sales" means the selling of merchandise or the soliciting of funds off school grounds and outside of the student's home in which the student travels from one residence or business to another to raise funds for the school or school-sponsored organization. "Door-to-door sales" shall not include sales conducted by prior appointment at a pre-arranged business meeting, such as the sale of sponsorships, advertising space in a school publication, or other similar activity.
b. The Commissioner of
Education shall monitor the compliance of school districts with the provisions
of this act. If the commissioner finds that any district has violated the
provisions of this act, the commissioner shall suspend the district from
engaging in any fund-raising activity for at least one school year or for a
longer period as determined to be appropriate.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill prohibits school districts and school-sponsored organizations from engaging in fund-raising activities which include unsupervised door-to-door sales by students. Under the bill, a door-to-door sales activity is supervised only if it is conducted under the direct supervision of an adult who is at least 21 years of age and who has been approved by school officials to supervise the activity. The bill defines door-to-door sales as the selling of merchandise or the soliciting of funds off school grounds and outside of the student's home in which the student travels from one residence or business to another to raise funds for the school or school-sponsored organization. The bill stipulates that "door-to-door sales" does not, however, include sales conducted by prior appointment at a pre-arranged business meeting, such as the sale of sponsorships, advertising space in a school publication, or other similar activities.
The bill directs the Commissioner of Education to monitor the compliance of school districts with the bill's requirements. If the commissioner finds that a school district has violated the prohibition on door-to-door sales or sales incentives, then he must suspend the district from engaging in all fund-raising activities for at least one school year or such longer period as he determines is appropriate.
