Bill Text: NJ A5328 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires notification to school communities about COVID-19 infections; excludes members of school community infected with COVID-19 from in-person activities; and requires DOE to develop data dashboard on COVID-19 in schools.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-01-29 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee [A5328 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A5328-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman VALERIE VAINIERI HUTTLE
District 37 (Bergen)
SYNOPSIS
Requires notification to school communities about COVID-19 infections; excludes members of school community infected with COVID-19 from in-person activities; and requires DOE to develop data dashboard on COVID-19 in schools.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning COVID-19 infection in public and nonpublic schools and supplementing chapter 40 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in this act, "COVID-19" means the coronavirus disease 2019, as announced by the World Health Organization on February 11, 2020, and first identified in Wuhan, China.
2. a. (1) During a public health emergency declared by the Governor in response to COVID-19, pursuant to the "Emergency Health Powers Act," P.L.2005, c.222 (C.26:13-1 et seq.), the superintendent of a school district or the chief administrator of a nonpublic school that receives a report of a lab-confirmed positive test result of COVID-19 or a death related to COVID-19 with respect to an enrolled student, employee, volunteer, student teacher, or visitor shall ensure that all parents, guardians, employees, students ages 18 or older, volunteers, student teachers, and visitors of the school district or nonpublic school receive notice of the confirmed case or death within 24 hours of the initial report. The notice shall be consistent with all State and federal privacy laws. The school district or nonpublic school shall not be required to provide notice of a lab-confirmed positive test result of COVID-19 or death related to COVID-19 with respect to an enrolled student, employee, volunteer, student teacher, or visitor who is not reporting to or attending school or a school activity in-person.
(2) Each school district and nonpublic school shall designate an existing employee as a primary point of contact for inquiries from members of the school community on data, policies, and other information pertaining to COVID-19. The school district or nonpublic school shall display the contact information for the designee in a prominent location on the school district's or nonpublic school's website.
(3) Each school district and nonpublic school shall display a data dashboard detailing the number of COVID-19 reports received pursuant to this subsection. The dashboard shall provide separate data for the number of COVID-19 reports received pursuant to this subsection of students who have attended in-person activities but who have not attended in-person classes. The information shall be reported for each school of a school district. The data dashboard shall be displayed in a prominent location on the school district's or nonpublic school's website. This subsection shall not apply to a school district or nonpublic school that is not operating in-person classes or student activities.
b. A school district or nonpublic school shall, in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, exclude any student, employee, volunteer, student teacher, or visitor from in-person activities if the individual:
(1) self-reports experiencing symptoms of COVID-19;
(2) has received a lab-confirmed positive test result for COVID-19; or
(3) is a close contact or immediate family member of an individual who has received a lab-confirmed positive test result for COVID-19.
c. Each school district and nonpublic school shall keep a detailed log of visitors who enter a building of the school district or nonpublic school. The log shall include the contact information of each visitor and the date and time of such visits.
d. Each school district and nonpublic school shall notify the Commissioner of Education and the Commissioner of Health upon receipt of each report of a lab-confirmed positive test result of COVID-19 or a death related to COVID-19 with respect to an enrolled student, employee, volunteer, student teacher, or visitor of the district or nonpublic school.
e. The school district or nonpublic school shall assist the local health department in identifying an affected individual's close contacts within the school district or nonpublic school. The school district or nonpublic school shall designate at least one existing employee to assist the local health department with contact tracing, as needed.
The school district or nonpublic school shall not permit close contacts to enter the school or its facilities during such period of exclusion as is recommended by the local health department.
f. In the event that a school district or nonpublic school receives a report of a lab-confirmed positive test result of COVID-19 or a death related to COVID-19 with respect to an enrolled student, employee, volunteer, student teacher, or visitor after the expiration of the public health emergency declared by the Governor in response to COVID-19, pursuant to the "Emergency Health Powers Act," P.L.2005, c.222 (C.26:13-1 et seq.), the provisions of this section shall apply only upon the direction of the Commissioner of Health.
3. a. The Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health, shall oversee the development and maintenance of a data dashboard that collects and tracks the information received from school districts and nonpublic schools pursuant to section 2 of this act. The information maintained in the data dashboard shall include, by county:
(1) the number of reports received of lab-confirmed positive test results of COVID-19 with respect to enrolled students, employees, volunteers, student teachers, and visitors of school districts and nonpublic schools;
(2) the number of reports received of lab-confirmed positive test results of COVID-19 with respect to enrolled students of school districts and nonpublic schools who attended in-person activities but did not attend in-person classes; and
(3) the number of reports received of deaths related to COVID-19 with respect to enrolled students, employees, volunteers, student teachers, and visitors of school districts and nonpublic schools.
b. The data dashboard developed pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall be prominently displayed on the website of the Department of Education and shall be updated each business day. The data dashboard shall include a mechanism for an individual to make a report to the department of a school district that fails to meet its reporting obligations pursuant to subsection d. of section 2 of this act.
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires school districts and nonpublic schools to provide information to their school communities on the number of students, employees, and other members of the school community who are infected with, or have died as a result of, COVID-19. The bill also requires school districts and nonpublic schools to exclude any member of the school community who is infected with COVID-19, or at certain risk of infection, from in-person activities in accordance with CDC guidelines.
Under the bill, if a school district or nonpublic school receives a report of a lab-confirmed positive test result of COVID-19 or a death related to COVID-19 with respect to an enrolled student, employee, volunteer, student teacher, or visitor, they must ensure that all parents, guardians, employees, students ages 18 or older, volunteers, student teachers, and visitors of the school district or nonpublic school receive notice of the confirmed case or death within 24 hours of the initial report. The notice must be consistent with all State and federal privacy laws. The school district or nonpublic school will not be required to provide notice of a lab-confirmed positive test result of COVID-19 or death related to COVID-19 with respect to an enrolled student, employee, volunteer, student teacher, or visitor who is not reporting to or attending school or a school activity in-person.
The bill also provides that each school district and nonpublic school must designate an existing employee as a primary point of contact for inquiries from members of the school community on data, policies, and other information pertaining to COVID-19. Additionally, the bill directs each school district and nonpublic school to display a data dashboard detailing the number of COVID-19 reports received pursuant to the bill.
Under the bill, a school district or nonpublic school must exclude from in-person activities, in accordance with CDC guidance, any student, employee, volunteer, student teacher, or visitor who:
(1) self-reports experiencing symptoms of COVID-19;
(2) has received a lab-confirmed positive test result for COVID-19; or
(3) is a close contact or immediate family member of an individual who has received a lab-confirmed positive test result for COVID-19.
The bill also directs each school district and nonpublic school to keep a detailed log of visitors who enter a building of the school district or nonpublic school.
The bill directs each school district and nonpublic school to notify the Commissioner of Education and the Commissioner of Health upon receipt of each report of a lab-confirmed positive test result of COVID-19 or a death related to COVID-19 with respect to an enrolled student, employee, volunteer, student teacher, or visitor of the district or nonpublic school. The school district or nonpublic school must also assist the local health department in identifying an affected individual's close contacts within the school district or nonpublic school. The school district or nonpublic school is directed to designate at least one existing employee to assist the local health department with contact tracing, as needed.
The school district or nonpublic school shall not permit close contacts to enter the school or its facilities during such period of exclusion as is recommended by the local health department.
Finally, the bill directs the Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health, to oversee the development and maintenance of a data dashboard that collects and tracks the information received from school districts and nonpublic schools pursuant to the bill.
The data dashboard must be prominently displayed on the website of the Department of Education and will be updated each business day. The data dashboard must also include a mechanism for an individual to make a report to the department of a school district that fails to meet its reporting obligations pursuant to the bill's provisions.
