Sponsored by:
Assemblyman PATRICK J. DIEGNAN, JR.
District 18 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Provides county vocational school districts with the authority to name themselves in a manner that more accurately reflects their mission.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning county vocational school districts and supplementing chapter 54 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, a county vocational school district established pursuant to article 3 of chapter 54 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes may be known by any name chosen by the board of education of the district.
b. Whenever, in any law, rule, regulation, order, contract, document, judicial or administrative proceeding or otherwise, reference is made to a county vocational school district, the same shall mean and refer to a school district established pursuant to article 3 of chapter 54 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes regardless of the name chosen by the board of education of the district.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would provide statutory authority for school districts providing vocational-technical education in the State to be known by any name chosen by the district's board of education. Currently, county vocational school districts refer to themselves, without clear authority, by various names including: institutes of technology; technical schools; technical school districts; technical education centers; schools of technology; polytechs; and vocational-technical schools. Under this bill county vocational school districts will have the statutory authority to choose names for their educational institutions that more accurately reflect the mission of those institutions. Today's career and technical education schools are very different from the "trade schools" of the past. These schools are offering rigorous, hand-on learning opportunities that prepare all types of students for college and careers in a wide variety of fields. The names by which they are know should be allowed to reflect the exciting and challenging high school choice they offer the students of New Jersey.