Bill Text: NJ A5304 | 2026-2027 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes three-year pilot program for school-based mentoring in public schools located within 1,000 feet of gunfire.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2)
Status: (Introduced) 2026-06-23 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee [A5304 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2026-A5304-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Assemblywoman LINDA S. CARTER
District 22 (Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes three-year pilot program for school-based mentoring in public schools located within 1,000 feet of gunfire.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act establishing a three-year pilot program for the implementation of school-based mentoring in certain public schools and supplementing chapter 6 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, "crisis zone" means an area within 1,000 feet of school property where gunfire occurred in the prior school year.
b. The Commissioner of Education shall establish a three-year pilot program for the implementation of school-based mentoring in public schools located in a crisis zone. The purpose of the pilot program shall be to build emotional resilience and improve the social-emotional and behavioral skills of young children in grades kindergarten through three who are at risk for mental health disorders and substance abuse. The program is designed to improve the task orientation, behavior control, assertiveness, and peer social skills of participating students.
c. The commissioner shall select the Jersey City School District and, upon application in a form as required by the commissioner, six additional public schools located in a crisis zone to participate in the pilot program. The six additional public schools selected by the commissioner shall include two public schools in each of the southern, central, and northern regions of the State.
d. The commissioner shall adopt a curriculum for the program that includes a series of hierarchically-ordered skill trainings in weekly, 25 minute one-on-one sessions. The curriculum shall address the:
(1) monitoring of one's own and others' emotions;
(2) building resilience and gaining effective coping skills to deal with complex emotions; and
(3) skills for maintaining control and equilibrium.
e. The commissioner is authorized to make grants to participating public schools in amounts as determined necessary by the commissioner to assist the schools in the implementation of the pilot program.
f. The commissioner may contract with a qualified third party to establish and administer the pilot program.
2. It shall be the responsibility of a participating school to:
a. designate and train three to five mentors to facilitate the program. Each mentor shall be assigned to work with no more than 20 students;
b. identify students for the program who have problems in at least two of the following areas:
(1) behavioral development;
(2) social-emotional development; or
(3) on-task learning abilities in the school setting;
c. use the curriculum approved by the commissioner pursuant to section 1 of this act to deliver the program. The curriculum shall be offered slowly and sequentially in order to allow the student to absorb and understand the lesson and practice the new skills in the classroom setting; and
d. evaluate participating students at the beginning, mid-point, and completion of the curriculum in each of the following areas:
(1) recent disciplinary referrals and actions;
(2) task orientation;
(3) behavior control;
(4) assertiveness versus withdrawn behavior; and
(5) peer social skills.
3. Upon the conclusion of the pilot program, the commissioner shall report to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), on the feasibility of implementing the program on a Statewide basis.
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill directs the Commissioner of Education to establish a three-year pilot program for the implementation of school-based mentoring in public schools located in a crisis zone. The purpose of the pilot program is to improve the social-emotional and behavioral skills of young children in grades kindergarten through three who are at risk for mental health disorders and substance abuse.
Under the bill, the commissioner is to select the Jersey City School District and, upon application in a form as required by the commissioner, six additional public schools located in a crisis zone to participate in the pilot program. A crisis zone is defined in the bill as an area within 1,000 feet of school property where gunfire occurred in the prior school year.
The commissioner is directed to adopt a curriculum for the program that includes a series of hierarchically-ordered skill trainings in weekly, 25 minute one-on-one sessions. The curriculum is to address the: (1) monitoring of one's own and others' emotions; (2) building resilience and gaining effective coping skills to deal with complex emotions; and (3) skills for maintaining control and equilibrium. The commissioner is authorized to make grants to participating public schools in amounts as determined necessary by the commissioner to assist the schools in the implementation of the pilot program. The commissioner may contract with a qualified third party to establish and administer the pilot program.
Under the bill, a participating school is to: designate and train three to five mentors to facilitate the program; identify students for the program who have problems in certain developmental areas; use the curriculum approved by the commissioner to deliver the program; and evaluate participating students at the beginning, midpoint, and completion of the curriculum.
This bill is modeled on the Rochester Resilience Project, which has shown promising results in improving the emotional regulation of at-risk children through the provision of targeted mentoring instruction.
