Bill Text: NJ A4070 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires school districts to implement policy mandating all students and school employees have identification cards.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-03-14 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee [A4070 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A4070-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman NANCY F. MUŅOZ
District 21 (Middlesex, Morris, Somerset and Union)
Assemblywoman MICHELE MATSIKOUDIS
District 21 (Middlesex, Morris, Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Requires school districts to implement policy mandating all students and school employees have identification cards.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning school security and supplementing chapter 36 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. Each school district shall develop and implement a policy requiring all teachers, school administrators, and other school employees to have a school identification card which is clearly visible at all times while the employee is in a school building when school is in session.
b. The Commissioner of Education shall develop guidelines concerning the information to be included on the identification card required pursuant to subsection a. of this section. The information shall include, but need not be limited to, the employee's name, position or affiliation with the school or school district, an up-to-date photograph, and the current school year.
The policy shall ensure that the school identification card of any teacher, school administrator, or other school employee who resigns or is terminated from employment with the school district is returned to the district.
2. a. Each school district shall develop and implement a policy requiring all students to have a school identification card which is clearly visible at all times while the student is in a school building when school is in session.
b. The Commissioner of Education shall develop guidelines concerning the information to be included on the identification card required pursuant to subsection a. of this section. The information shall include, but need not be limited to, the student's name, an up-to-date photograph, and the current school year.
c. The commissioner shall examine whether the student identification cards should be used for school purposes in addition to identification, such as purchasing meals, access to library materials, admittance to school-sponsored activities, and boarding school buses.
The recommendations developed pursuant to this section shall provide that the identification card of any student who is no longer enrolled in the district is returned to the district.
3. a. Each school district shall develop and implement a policy requiring any visitor to the school to have a visitor pass, and that screening procedures are utilized to monitor visitor entry and access to school facilities.
b. The commissioner shall develop guidelines concerning the visitor policy required to be developed by school districts pursuant to subsection a. of this section. The guidelines shall include a process for the district to determine if the individual is listed on the Internet registry maintained by the Superintendent of State Police pursuant to section 2 of P.L.2001, c.167 (C.2C:7-13).
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires each school district to develop and implement a policy requiring all students, teachers, school administrators, and other school employees to have a school identification (ID) card. The ID card must be clearly visible at all times while the student or employee is in a school building when school is in session.
Under the bill, the Commissioner of Education will develop guidelines concerning the information to be included on the employee ID card. At a minimum, the information will include the name of the student or employee, an up-to-date photograph, the current school year, and in the case of an employee, the employee's position or affiliation with the school or school district.
The bill also requires the commissioner to examine whether the student identification cards should be used for school purposes in addition to identification, such as purchasing meals, access to library materials, and admittance to school-sponsored activities.
The bill also requires each school district to develop and implement a policy requiring any visitor to the school to have a visitor pass, and that screening procedures are utilized to monitor visitor entry and access to school facilities.
