STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JAY WEBBER
District 26 (Morris and Passaic)
Assemblyman ERIK PETERSON
District 23 (Hunterdon, Somerset and Warren)
Assemblyman BRIAN BERGEN
District 26 (Morris and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen Simonsen, DePhillips and Assemblywoman N.Munoz
SYNOPSIS
Dedicates State reserve of certain federal funds to in-person and hybrid school districts.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning the distribution of certain federal funds to in-person and hybrid school districts.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this section:
"Hybrid school district" means a school district the superintendent of which certifies under penalty of perjury that it offered all of the students of the district in-person instruction on more than 25 percent but less than 75 percent of school days during the 2020-2021 school year.
"In-Person school district" means a school district the superintendent of which certifies under penalty of perjury that it offered all of the students of the district in-person instruction on 75 percent or more of school days during the 2020-2021 school year.
b. (1) To the extent permitted by federal law, the total amount of the State reserve of moneys received by the State under the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief II Fund, which State reserve is authorized pursuant to subsection (e) of section 313 of the federal Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, Pub.L.116-260, shall be distributed only to in-person school districts and hybrid school districts on an equal per pupil basis, except that in-person school districts shall receive a per pupil amount that is 1.5 times greater than the per pupil amount received by hybrid school districts. School districts not meeting the definition of either a hybrid school district or an in-person school district under subsection a. of this section shall not be eligible for the State reserve of moneys received by the State under the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief II Fund.
(2) The distribution of federal funds authorized pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection shall not be construed to alter in any way the allocation of moneys to local education agencies required under subsection (c) of section 313 of the federal Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, Pub.L.116-260, or the State reserve amount that may be reserved for administrative costs under subsection (c) of section 313 of the federal Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, Pub.L.116-260.
c. The Commissioner of Education shall set forth guidance for superintendents certifying the number and percentage of school days offered to all students by a school district through in-person instruction for the purposes of implementing the provisions of paragraph (1) of subsection b. of this section.
2. This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill intends to reward and compensate those school districts that offered substantial in-person instruction in the 2020-2021 school year for their extraordinary efforts and the costs incurred in meeting the challenges of educating children during a global pandemic.
The bill requires that the total amount of the State reserve of moneys received by New Jersey under the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief II (ESSER II) Fund be distributed to "in-person school districts" and "hybrid school districts." The distribution would be made on an equal per pupil basis, except that in-person school districts would receive a per pupil amount that is 1.5 times greater than the per pupil amount received by hybrid school districts. Under the bill, a hybrid school district is defined as a school district whose superintendent certifies under penalty of perjury that it offered all of the students of the district in-person instruction on more than 25 percent but less than 75 percent of school days during the 2020-2021 school year. An in-person school district is defined as a school district whose superintendent certifies under penalty of perjury that it offered all of the students of the district in-person instruction on 75 percent or more of school days during the 2020-2021 school year.
The ESSER II Fund was authorized pursuant to the federal Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act. Of the total $1.23 billion that New Jersey received from the ESSER II Fund, a minimum of 90 percent is required to be awarded to local education agencies (LEAs) in proportion to the amount of funds the LEAs received under part A of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. No more than 10 percent of the funds received by New Jersey under the ESSER II Fund may be reserved by the State Department of Education for certain emergency needs to address issues responding to COVID-19.