New Jersey-2020-A4912-Introduced

An Act concerning the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on elementary and secondary school attendance and higher education enrollment.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. The Commissioner of Education shall conduct, or contract with a research institution to conduct, a study to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the attendance of elementary and secondary school students. At a minimum, the study shall analyze:

(1) the manner in which school districts, charter schools, and renaissance schools recorded student attendance during the implementation of virtual or remote instruction in the 2019-2020 school year and the 2020-2021 school year, respectively;

(2) the number of elementary and secondary school students who were identified as chronically absent students or dropout students during the 2019-2020 school year and the 2020-2021 school year, respectively, disaggregated by grade level, school district, race, gender, special education designation, English language learner designation, and eligibility for free and reduced price meals;

(3) the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of virtual or remote instruction on the attendance rates of elementary and secondary school students during the 2019-2020 school year and the 2020-2021 school year, respectively; and

(4) the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of virtual or remote instruction disproportionately impacted the attendance rates of specific subgroups of elementary or secondary school students.

b. The commissioner or research institution, as applicable, may contact a school district, charter school, or renaissance school to obtain any information necessary to conduct the study. If contacted, the school district, charter school, or renaissance school shall provide the commissioner or research institution with such information as may be requested, to the extent practicable.

c. (1) Within five days of the completion of the study, the Department of Education shall publish an electronic copy of the study on the Internet website of the department.

(2) Within 30 days of the completion of the study, the commissioner shall prepare and submit a report to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to summarize the findings of the study.

d. As used in this section,

"Chronically absent student" means a student who was not present for 10 percent or more of the total school days in session during a given school year.

"Dropout student" means a student who was reported as a dropout in the New Jersey School Register as a result of being absent for 10 or more days due to an unknown reason.

2. a. The Secretary of Higher Education shall conduct, or contract with a research institution to conduct, a study to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the enrollment of college and university students in the State. At a minimum, the study shall analyze:

(1) the total enrollment of each institution of higher education in the State during the 2019-2020 academic year and the 2020-2021 academic year, disaggregated by race, gender, age, residence, and academic program;

(2) the undergraduate retention rate of each institution of higher education during the period between the fall 2019 academic semester and the fall 2020 academic semester, disaggregated by race, gender, age, residence, and academic program;

(3) the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of virtual or remote instruction on the enrollment rates of college and university students in the State during the 2019-2020 academic year and the 2020-2021 academic year, respectively; and

(4) the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of virtual or remote instruction disproportionately impacted the rate of enrollment of certain student populations.

b. The secretary or research institution, as applicable, may contact any institution of higher education in the State to obtain any information necessary to conduct the study. If contacted, the institution of higher education shall provide the secretary or research institution with such information as may be requested, to the extent practicable.

c. (1) Within five days of the completion of the study, the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education shall publish an electronic copy of the study on the Internet website of the office.

(2) Within 30 days of the completion of the study, the secretary shall prepare and submit a report to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to summarize the findings of the study.

3. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill requires studies to be conducted to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the attendance of elementary and secondary school students and the enrollment of college and university students, respectively.

Specifically, the bill requires the Commissioner of Education to conduct, or contract with a research institution to conduct, a study to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the attendance of elementary and secondary school students. The bill requires school districts, charter schools, and renaissance schools to provide any information that may be requested by the commissioner or research institution, to the extent practicable. At a minimum, the study would analyze:

Additionally, the Secretary of Higher Education would be required to conduct, or contract with a research institution to conduct, a student to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the enrollment of college and university students in the State. The bill requires institutions of higher education to provide any information that may be requested by the secretary or research institution, to the extent practicable. At a minimum, the study would analyze:

(1) the total enrollment of each institution of higher education during the 2019-2020 academic year and the 2020-2021 academic year, disaggregated by race, gender, age, residence, and academic program;

(4) the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of virtual or remote instruction disproportionately impacted the rate of enrollment of certain student populations.

The bill requires an electronic copy of each study to be published on the official Internet website of the Department of Education or the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education, as applicable, within five days of the completion of the study. The bill also requires the commissioner and secretary to submit a report to the Governor and Legislature to summarize the findings of each study.