Bill Text: NJ A3816 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires certain public schools that receive State aid to begin regular instruction for high school students no earlier than 8:30 A.M.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-05-02 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee [A3816 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-A3816-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman CRAIG J. COUGHLIN
District 19 (Middlesex)
Assemblywoman MILA M. JASEY
District 27 (Essex and Morris)
Assemblyman STERLEY S. STANLEY
District 18 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires certain public schools that receive State aid to begin regular instruction for high school students no earlier than 8:30 AM.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning school start times for high school students and Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. During puberty, adolescents become tired later at night and need to sleep later in the morning as a result in shifts in biological rhythms.
b. The combination of late bedtimes and early school start times results in most adolescents not getting enough sleep.
c. Adolescents who do not get enough sleep are faced with several health risks including being overweight, drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, and using drugs, as well as poor academic performance.
d. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that teenagers aged 13 to 18 years should regularly sleep 8 to 10 hours per day for good health.
e. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that middle and high schools start at 8:30 AM or later to give students the opportunity to get the amount of sleep they need.
2. In order to receive any State aid pursuant to P.L.2007, c.260 (C.18A:7F-43 et al.) or any other law, a school district, charter school, renaissance school project, county vocational school district, or county special services school district that includes grades 9 through 12 shall begin regular instruction for high school students no earlier than 8:30 AM local New Jersey time. This section shall not be construed to supersede any provisions of a student's individualized education program developed pursuant to the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act," 20 U.S.C. s.1400 et seq., or any rights, privileges, and remedies afforded a student under that act or section 504 of the federal "Rehabilitation Act of 1973," 29 U.S.C. s.794.
3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first apply to the 2024-2025 school year.
STATEMENT
This bill provides that, in order to receive any State aid pursuant to the "School Funding Reform Act of 2008" or any other law, a school district, charter school, renaissance school project, county vocational school district, or county special services school district that includes grades 9 through 12 will be required to begin regular instruction for high school students no earlier than 8:30 AM.
