STATE OF NEW JERSEY
220th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2022 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RALPH R. CAPUTO
District 28 (Essex)
Assemblywoman BRITNEE N. TIMBERLAKE
District 34 (Essex and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Benson
SYNOPSIS
Requires instruction concerning use of 9-1-1 for public school students in preschool, kindergarten, and grades one and two.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning the instruction of 9-1-1 emergency services in public schools and supplementing chapter 35 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. The State Board of Education shall review and update the New Jersey Student Learning Standards in Comprehensive Health and Physical Education to ensure that the curriculum of students in preschool, kindergarten, and grades one and two includes instruction concerning the use of 9-1-1 in the case of an emergency. The instruction shall, at a minimum, direct students on how to dial and text 9-1-1 and explain any information that should be provided to a 9-1-1 dispatcher in the case of an emergency.
b. A board of education shall include instruction concerning the use of 9-1-1 in the case of emergency, as prescribed by the State Board of Education pursuant to subsection a. of this section, in an appropriate place in the curriculum of students in preschool, kindergarten, and grades one and two. The instruction shall be adapted to the age and understanding of the students and shall be incorporated as part of the school district's implementation of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards in Comprehensive Health and Physical Education.
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first apply to the first full school year next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires all public school students in preschool, kindergarten, and grades one and two to receive instruction concerning the use of 9-1-1 in the case of an emergency.
Specifically, the bill requires the State Board of Education to review and update the New Jersey Student Learning Standards in Comprehensive Health and Physical Education to ensure that the curriculum of students in preschool, kindergarten, and grades one and two includes instruction concerning the use of 9-1-1 in the case of an emergency. At a minimum, the instruction would direct students on how to dial and text 9-1-1 and explain any information that should be provided to a 9-1-1 dispatcher in the case of an emergency.
Thereafter, every board of education would be required to include this instruction as a part of the school district's implementation of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards in Comprehensive Health and Physical Education. The bill requires the instruction to be adapted to the age and understanding of the students.