Bill Text: NJ A2957 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Lowers age of compulsory school attendance to age five and requires that all school districts establish kindergarten programs.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-03-24 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee [A2957 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-A2957-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman CHARLES MAINOR
District 31 (Hudson)
Assemblywoman BONNIE WATSON COLEMAN
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Assemblywoman SHEILA Y. OLIVER
District 34 (Essex and Passaic)
Assemblyman PATRICK J. DIEGNAN, JR.
District 18 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Lowers age of compulsory school attendance to age five and requires that all school districts establish kindergarten programs.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning compulsory school attendance and amending various sections of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. N.J.S.18A:38-25 is amended to read as follows:
18A:38-25. Every parent, guardian or other person having custody and control of a child between the ages of [six] five and 16 years shall cause such child regularly to attend the public schools of the district or a day school in which there is given instruction equivalent to that provided in the public schools for children of similar grades and attainments or to receive equivalent instruction elsewhere than at school.
(cf: N.J.S.18A:38-25)
2. N.J.S.18A:38-27 is amended to read as follows:
18A:38-27. Any child between the ages of [six] five and 16 years who shall repeatedly be absent from school, and any child of such age found away from school during school hours whose parent, guardian or other person having charge and control of the child is unable to cause him to attend school and any pupil who is incorrigible, actually vagrant, vicious, or immoral in conduct, shall be deemed to be a juvenile delinquent and shall be proceeded against as such.
(cf: N.J.S.18A:38-27)
3. N. J.S.18A:38-28 is amended to read as follows:
18A:38-28. Any attendance officer who shall find any child between [six] five and 16 years of age who is a truant from school, shall take the child and deliver him to the parent, guardian or other person having charge and control of the child, or to the teacher of the school which such child is lawfully required to attend.
(cf: N.J.S.18A:38-28)
4. N.J.S.18A:38-31 is amended to read as follows:
18A:38-31. A parent, guardian or other person having charge and control of a child between the ages of [6] five and 16 years, who shall fail to comply with any of the provisions of this article relating to his duties, shall be deemed to be a disorderly person and shall be subject to a fine of not more than $25.00 for a first offense and not more than $100.00 for each subsequent offense, in the discretion of the court.
In any such proceeding, the
summons issuing therein, or in special circumstances a warrant, shall be
directed to the alleged
disorderly person and the child.
(cf: P.L.1980, c.153, s.1)
5. N.J.S.18A:44-2 is amended to read as follows:
18A:44-2. The board of education of any district [may] shall establish a kindergarten school or kindergarten department, which in order to receive State aid shall be a one-year program in advance of or in preparation for entrance to first grade, in any school under its control, and may admit to such kindergarten school or department any child over the age of four and under the age of five and shall admit to such kindergarten school or department any child over the age of five and under the age of six years who is a resident of the district.
(cf: P.L.1996, c.138, s.72)
6. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill lowers the age at which children are required to attend school from six years to five years, and conforms related provisions of law that address noncompliance with compulsory school attendance. The bill makes the establishment of a kindergarten program in a school district mandatory. Although most school districts currently offer a kindergarten program, this bill would require them to do so by statute.
