Bill Text: NJ S455 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Prohibits requiring students to wear face masks in schools and on school buses.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 8-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee [S455 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S455-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator JAMES W. HOLZAPFEL
District 10 (Monmouth and Ocean)
Senator MICHAEL L. TESTA, JR.
District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senators Corrado, Singer, O'Scanlon, Pennacchio and A.M.Bucco
SYNOPSIS
Prohibits requiring students to wear face masks in schools and on school buses.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning face mask usage in schools and supplementing chapter 40 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. A student attending a public or nonpublic elementary or secondary school shall not be required to wear a face mask while in any indoor or outdoor area of any building of, or while on the grounds of, the public or nonpublic elementary or secondary school which the student is attending. A student attending a public or nonpublic elementary or secondary school shall also not be required to wear a face mask while present on a school bus as defined in R.S.39:1-1.
b. Nothing in subsection a. of this section shall be construed to prohibit any student attending a public or nonpublic elementary or secondary school from voluntarily wearing a face mask while in any indoor or outdoor area of any building of, or while on the grounds of, the public or nonpublic elementary or secondary school which the student is attending or while present on a school bus as defined in R.S.39:1-1.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill provides that a student attending a public or nonpublic elementary or secondary school would not be required to wear a face mask while in any indoor or outdoor area of any building of, or while on the grounds of, the school which the student is attending. A student would also not be required to wear a face mask while present on a school bus.
The bill would not prohibit a student from voluntarily wearing a face mask while in any indoor or outdoor area of any building of, or while on the grounds of, the school which the student is attending or while the student is present on a school bus.
