STATE OF NEW JERSEY
217th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2016 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator M. TERESA RUIZ
District 29 (Essex)
Senator DIANE B. ALLEN
District 7 (Burlington)
SYNOPSIS
Requires each school district to annually submit interscholastic athletic opportunity report to the Commissioner of Education.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning interscholastic athletic opportunities for public school students and supplementing chapter 11 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. By October 15 of each year, a school district shall submit to the Commissioner of Education a report on interscholastic athletic opportunities provided to male and female students in middle schools and high schools in the district in the previous school year. The interscholastic athletic opportunity report shall include for each school in the district:
(1) the total number of students enrolled in the school, by gender;
(2) a listing by gender of each varsity, junior varsity, freshman, or other team that competed in interscholastic athletic competition;
(3) the total number of student athletes on each team;
(4) the total value of contributions and purchases made on behalf of each team by booster clubs, alumni, and any other nonschool sources;
(5) the total amount of school district expenditures for each team;
(6) itemized school district expenditures for each team, including expenditures for travel, uniforms, equipment and supplies, compensation of coaching staff, athletic trainers, or any other employees, and the maintenance, repair, and expansion of athletic facilities;
(7) the total number of athletic trainers, including the amount of time spent by each athletic trainer with each team;
(8) the total number of head and assistant coaches per team, and information on whether each coach is a full-time or part-time employee of the district; and
(9) the total number of competitions scheduled and played per team.
A school district shall post its interscholastic athletic opportunity report on its website by November 1 of each year.
b. For purposes of this section, "athletic facilities" means locker rooms, playing fields, gymnasiums, arenas, athletic training rooms, stadiums, weight rooms, or any other location used by student athletes and their coaches for sports training, practice, competition, and coaching in middle schools and high schools.
2. a. The commissioner shall develop and distribute to each school district a reporting form for the submission of the information required pursuant to section 1 of this act. The commissioner shall post all submitted athletic opportunity reports on the Department of Education's website.
b. The commissioner shall by January 15 of each year prepare a report that summarizes the information contained in the interscholastic athletic opportunity reports submitted pursuant to section 1 of this act on interscholastic athletic opportunity by gender. Upon its completion, the report shall be transmitted to the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, and the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1).
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires each school district to annually submit to the Commissioner of Education a report on interscholastic athletic opportunities provided to male and female students in middle schools and high schools in the district in the previous school year.
The bill directs the commissioner to develop and distribute to each school district a reporting form for the submission of the interscholastic athletic opportunity report. The commissioner must post all submitted interscholastic athletic opportunity reports on the Department of Education's website. Under the bill, the commissioner must annually prepare a report that summarizes the information contained in the interscholastic athletic opportunity reports that were submitted by school districts on interscholastic athletic opportunity by gender. The bill provides that, upon its completion, the report will be transmitted to the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, and the Legislature.