Bill Text: NJ S1659 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires school districts to incorporate age-appropriate instruction on menstrual toxic shock syndrome and requires installation of signage in certain women's rooms to enhance public awareness of menstrual toxic shock syndrome.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee [S1659 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S1659-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator DECLAN J. O'SCANLON, JR.
District 13 (Monmouth)
Senator KRISTIN M. CORRADO
District 40 (Bergen, Essex and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator Gopal
SYNOPSIS
Requires school districts to incorporate age-appropriate instruction on menstrual toxic shock syndrome and requires installation of signage in certain women's rooms to enhance public awareness of menstrual toxic shock syndrome.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning toxic shock syndrome and supplementing Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes and Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Beginning with the first full school year following the date of enactment, each school district shall incorporate instruction on menstrual toxic shock syndrome in grades four through 12 as part of the district's implementation of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards in Comprehensive Health and Physical Education. The instruction shall include information on the causes and symptoms of menstrual toxic shock syndrome and the ways in which a student may reduce the risk for developing the syndrome. The Commissioner of Education shall provide school districts with age-appropriate sample learning activities and resources designed to implement this requirement.
2. a. The owner of a group A or M occupancy that maintains a restroom that is open to the public and available for use by women, and that includes two or more toilets, shall ensure the installation and maintenance of a sign in the restroom alerting women to the warning signs, causes, and dangers of menstrual toxic shock syndrome. The sign shall be installed on or near a tampon dispenser, if one exists in the restroom, or in a prominent location of the restroom. The sign shall be installed on or before the first day of the sixth month next following the adoption of rules and regulations pursuant to subsection b. of this section.
b. The Commissioner of Health shall promulgate rules and regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), in order to effectuate the purposes of this section. The rules and regulations shall include, but not be limited to, standards for the placement, appearance, and wording of the required signage, and the frequency and criteria of public access that shall cause a space to be designated as open to the public.
c. As used in this section, "group A or M occupancy" means an Assembly Group A occupancy or a Mercantile Group M occupancy, as defined in the most recently adopted New Jersey International Building Code or its successor, with the exception of an occupancy located within an elementary school that does not include grades above grade five.
3. The Commissioner of
Health shall prepare and make available on the Internet website of the
Department of Health
informational literature concerning the signs, causes, and dangers of menstrual
toxic shock syndrome.
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires each school district to incorporate instruction on menstrual toxic shock syndrome in grades four through 12 as part of the district's implementation of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards in Comprehensive Health and Physical Education. The bill directs the Commissioner of Education to provide school districts with age-appropriate sample learning activities and resources designed to implement this requirement.
This bill would also require the owner of a group A or M occupancy, that maintains a public restroom available for use by women, to ensure the installation and maintenance of a sign in the restroom alerting women to the warning signs, causes, and dangers of menstrual toxic shock syndrome. This requirement would only apply to restrooms that include two or more toilets.
The bill would require the Department of Health to adopt rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of the bill. The bill would require the menstrual toxic shock syndrome signs to be installed in the necessary restrooms on or before the first day of the sixth month following the adoption of rules and regulations by the department.
Under the bill, "group A or M occupancy" means an Assembly Group A occupancy or a Mercantile Group M occupancy, as defined in the most recently adopted New Jersey International Building Code. Under the bill, locations within elementary schools that do not include grades above grade five are excluded from the "group A or M occupancy" definition.
This bill is intended to enhance public awareness of menstrual toxic shock syndrome, a potentially serious illness that can develop quickly. Women that use tampons and similar devices have a higher risk of contracting menstrual toxic shock syndrome. Early symptoms may include a low fever, muscle aches, chills, fatigue, and headaches. As menstrual toxic shock syndrome progresses, symptoms may include a high fever, vomiting, rashes, redness of the eyes, lips and tongue, low blood pressure, and mental confusion. Menstrual toxic shock syndrome is generally treated with antibiotics.
Additionally, the bill directs the Department of Health to prepare and make available on its website informational literature concerning the signs, causes, and dangers of menstrual toxic shock syndrome.
This bill is in honor of Madalyn "Maddy" Massabni, who tragically passed away on March 30, 2017, just days after contracting menstrual toxic shock syndrome. Maddy was a 2016 graduate of Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School and was just beginning her academic career at Lynn University in Florida.
