Sponsored by:
Senator PATRICK J. DIEGNAN, JR.
District 18 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes Safe School Reopening Grant Program in DOE to help public school purchase air filtration systems and ultraviolet cleaning programs to address COVID-19 pandemic; appropriates $10 million.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act establishing the Safe School Reopening Grant Program in the Department of Education and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. There is established the "Safe School Reopening Grant Program" in the Department of Education. The grant program shall award grant monies to school districts, charter schools, and renaissance schools to support the purchase of air filtration systems and ultraviolet cleaning products to disinfect school facilities and reduce the transmission of COVID-19.
b. A school district, charter school, or renaissance school may apply to the Commissioner of Education to receive a grant. The application shall be submitted on a uniform form developed by the department. When awarding grants, the commissioner may give preference to applicants that:
(1) experienced the greatest fiscal distress as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; or
(2) require additional funding to meet the health and safety standards necessary to resume in-person instruction.
c. The grant monies received by a school district, charter school, or renaissance school shall be exclusively used to purchase air filtration systems and ultraviolet cleaning products. If the commissioner determines that a recipient school district, charter school, or renaissance school has used a grant for an unauthorized purpose, the commissioner shall require the public school to repay the amount of the grant to the department according to a repayment schedule established by the commissioner.
d. Notwithstanding any provision of P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), or any other law to the contrary, the commissioner may adopt, immediately upon filing with the Office of Administrative Law and no later than the 90th day after the effective date of this act, such rules and regulations as the commissioner deems necessary to implement the provisions of this act, which regulations shall be effective for a period not to exceed 12 months. The regulations shall, at a minimum, set forth the requirements for application submissions, the criteria for application selections, and the eligible uses of grant funds. The regulations shall thereafter be amended, adopted, or readopted by the commissioner in accordance with the provisions of P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.).
e. As used in this section, "ultraviolet cleaning product" includes any device that uses ultraviolet light to disinfect surfaces from the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
2. There is appropriated $10 million from the General Fund to the Department of Education to defray the costs of the "Safe School Reopening Grant Program."
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes the "Safe School Reopening Grant Program" in the Department of Education to assist public schools in the purchase of air filtration systems and ultraviolet cleaning products to disinfect school facilities and reduce the transmission of COVID-19.
Under the bill, a school district, charter school, or renaissance school could apply to the Commissioner of Education for a grant. When awarding grants, the commissioner may give preference to applicants who experienced the greatest fiscal distress as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, or who require additional funding to meet the health and safety standards necessary to resume in-person instruction.
The bill requires all grant monies to be exclusively used to purchase air filtration systems and ultraviolet cleaning products. If the commissioner determines that a grant recipient has used the monies for an unauthorized purpose, the public school would be required to repay the amount of the grant to the department according to a repayment schedule established by the commissioner.
The bill appropriates $10 million from the General Fund to the Department of Education to support the costs of the program.