ASSEMBLY, No. 3124

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

221st LEGISLATURE

 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION

 

 

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman  CRAIG J. COUGHLIN

District 19 (Middlesex)

Assemblyman  BENJIE E. WIMBERLY

District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)

 

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman Lopez

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Establishes Office of Community Schools; appropriates $10 million.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.

  

An Act establishing the Office of Community Schools, supplementing chapter 6 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes, and making an appropriation.

 

     Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

     1. a. There is established in the Department of Education the Office of Community Schools.  The purpose of the office is to address student needs through community-based educational, developmental, family, health, and other comprehensive services.

     b. The Commissioner of Education shall establish the office, which shall consist of individuals qualified by training and experience related to community-based learning.  The staff shall be supervised by a person of recognized judgement, integrity, and objectivity, who shall be skilled in communication, conflict resolution, and professionalism.

     c. The office shall be responsible for the work of any professional and clerical staff as may be necessary to carry out the office's responsibilities.

 

     2. The duties of the Office of Community Schools shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

     a. providing training and support for public schools interested in adopting community school strategies;

     b. increasing the knowledge and skills of school staff and community partners to aid in the implementation, management, and sustainability of community schools;

     c. providing grants to public schools for the purposes of adopting community school strategies;

     d. providing a list of school districts, renaissance schools, and charter schools that have established community schools, to be published on the department's Internet website;

     e. increasing Statewide capacity to support effective community school strategies; and

     f. identifying and evaluating the needs of community schools in order to provide tailored technical assistance and professional development opportunities.

 

     3. To effectuate the provisions of this act, there is appropriated to the Department of Education the sum of $10,000,000, of which $2,000,000 shall be appropriated from the General Fund and $8,000,000 shall, to the extent permitted by federal law, be appropriated from funds allocated to the State from the federal "State Fiscal Recovery Fund," established pursuant to the federal "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021," Pub.L.117-2.

     4. The department shall submit an annual report to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L. 1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1). 

 

     5. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first apply to the first full school year following the date of enactment, except that the Commissioner of Education may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as may be necessary for the implementation of this act.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

     This bill establishes the Office of Community Schools in the Department of Education.  The purpose of the office is to address student needs through community-based educational, developmental, family, health, and other comprehensive services.

     Under the bill, the Commissioner of Education is to establish the office, which is to consist of individuals qualified by training and experience related to community-based learning.

     The duties of the office include, but are not limited to: (1) providing training and support for public schools interested in adopting community school strategies; (2) increasing the knowledge and skills of school staff and community partners to aid in the implementation, management, and sustainability of community schools; (3) providing grants to public schools for the purposes of adopting community school strategies; (4) providing a list of school districts, renaissance schools, and charter schools that have established community schools, to be published on the department's Internet website; (5) increasing Statewide capacity to support effective community school strategies; and (6) identifying and evaluating community schools' needs in order to provide tailored technical assistance and professional development opportunities

     The bill also requires the office to submit an annual report to the Governor and to the Legislature that includes a summary of the services provided.  The bill appropriates $10 million to the department to establish the office.