Bill Text: NJ A4071 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires school district to submit emergency communication policies and protocols to Department of Education for review.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-03-14 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee [A4071 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A4071-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman NANCY F. MUŅOZ
District 21 (Middlesex, Morris, Somerset and Union)
Assemblywoman MICHELE MATSIKOUDIS
District 21 (Middlesex, Morris, Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Requires school district to submit emergency communication policies and protocols to Department of Education for review.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning school security and supplementing chapter 41 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. Before the first day of October of the first full school year following the effective date of this act, each school district shall submit its current emergency communication policies and protocols to the Department of Education.
The school district shall review, update, and resubmit its emergency communication policies and protocols to the department every five years. If an emergency incident occurs at a school district during the five-year period, the policies and protocols shall be reviewed immediately.
b. The department, in consultation with the Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, the State Office of Emergency Management, and local law enforcement authorities, shall review the emergency communication policies and protocols submitted by a school district pursuant to subsection a. of this section to ensure compliance with all relevant State laws and regulations and shall, when necessary, make recommendations to the school district for improving the policies and protocols.
c. The department may, at any time, request any additional information regarding a school district's emergency communication policies, protocols, equipment, or technology that it deems necessary.
d. As used in this section, "emergency communication policies and protocols" means the procedures established to enable school administrators and security personnel to communicate with emergency responders, school staff, students, parents and guardians, and other school or school district stakeholders in the event of a school emergency.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires each school district to submit its current emergency communication policies and protocols to the Department of Education. The bill defines "emergency communication policies and protocols" as the procedures established to enable school administrators and security personnel to communicate with emergency responders, school staff, students, parents and guardians, and other school or school district stakeholders in the event of a school emergency. The bill further directs the department, in consultation with the Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, the State Office of Emergency Management, and local law enforcement authorities, to review the emergency communication policies and protocols submitted by a school district to ensure compliance with all relevant State laws and regulations and, when necessary, make recommendations to the school district for improving the policies and protocols.
Under the bill, the school district is required to review, update, and resubmit its emergency communication policies and protocols to the department every five years. If an emergency incident occurs at a school district during the five-year period, the policies and protocols will be reviewed immediately.
The bill provides the department the authority to request any additional information about a school district's emergency communication policies, protocols, equipment, or technology that it deems necessary.
