Title 18A, Title 18A: EDUCATION

18A:33-24 Implementation of Summer Food Service Program. 1. a. Every school district in which 50 percent or more of the students enrolled in the school district on or before the last school day before October 16 of the preceding school year were federally eligible for free or red…

18A:33-25 Application. 2. a. Nothing in section 1 of P.L.2018, c.28 (C.18A:33-24) shall be deemed to prohibit a school district from becoming a sponsor or site under the Summer Food Service Program. Any school district that is not subject to the requirements of section 1 of P.L.2…

18A:33-26 Waiver. 3. a. The Department of Agriculture may grant a waiver of the requirements of this act to a school district subject to the requirements of this act that lacks the staff, facilities, or equipment to sponsor the federal Summer Food Service Program, or the means to…

18A:33-27 Rules, regulations. 4. The Department of Agriculture shall adopt pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), such rules and regulations as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act. L.2018, c.28, s.4.

18A:33-27.1 "School Meal Program," development of promotional materials. 1. a. Each school food authority that provides a food service to students enrolled in a participating school district or nonpublic school in the State shall, in the two languages that are most commonly spoke…

18A:33-27.2 Provision of school meals during period of school closure. 1. a. Whenever a local board of education receives a written directive, from either the New Jersey Department of Health or the health officer of the jurisdiction, instituting a public health-related school clo…

18A:33-27.4 Costs borne by State. 3. The State shall bear any costs not reimbursed by the federal government which are incurred by the school districts in effectuating the provisions of this act. The State shall maximize the waiver flexibilities being provided by the federal gove…

18A:33-27.5 Department of Agriculture, provision of summer per meal financial supplement; annual report; funds appropriation. 1. a. The Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Department of Education, shall provide a 10-cent per meal supplement to the existing federal…

18A:33-28 Posting of information about child abuse hotline. 1. A board of education shall prominently display information about the Department of Children and Families' State Central Registry, a toll free hotline for reporting child abuse, in each school of the district. The info…

18A:33-29 Findings, declarations. 1. The Legislature finds and declares that: a. New Jersey recognizes that access to menstrual products is vital for ensuring the health, dignity, and full participation of all New Jerseyans in public life. b. A lack of access to menstrual product…

18A:33-3. Food service bidding exemption A board of education of any district may, itself or under contract, install, equip, supply and operate cafeterias or other agencies for dispensing food to public school pupils without profit to the district and may purchase food services a…

18A:33-3.1 Establishment of prepaid school lunch program. 1. A board of education may establish a program through which the parent or guardian of a student may prepay for lunches served to the student in the school cafeteria. L.2006,c.14.

18A:33-3.2 Definitions. 1. As used in this chapter: "Categorically eligible" means that a student is homeless, is a migrant child, is a runaway child, is a foster child, or is a Head Start child, as defined in 7 C.F.R. Part 245, or is receiving assistance under the Supplemental N…

18A:33-30 Schools, grades six through 12, direct access, menstrual products, free of charge; Department of Education, Department of Health, review, assess, recommendations. 2. a. As used in this section, "menstrual products" mean tampons and sanitary napkins for use in connection…

18A:33-4 School lunch, availability to all children; report to the Governor, Legislature; rules, regulations. 1. a. (1) Each school district shall make school lunch available to all students enrolled in the district, except at those schools that are exempt from the requirements o…

18A:33-5. Exemptions Any school at which less than five percent of enrolled students are federally eligible for a free or reduced price lunch shall be exempt from the provisions of P.L.1974, c.53 (C.18A:33-1 et seq.). L.1974, c. 53, s. 2, eff. July 1, 1974; amended 2022, c.104, s…

18A:33-6. Display of poster illustrating choke prevention techniques Each local board of education shall: a. Ensure that posters illustrating choke prevention techniques such as the "Heimlich Maneuver" are prominently displayed in all school cafeterias, faculty dining rooms and a…

18A:33-7 Posting of drinking water test reports by public schools. 6. a. The principal of every public school who is required to prepare a Consumer Confidence Report pursuant to the "Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996,"42 U.S.C.s.300f et al., or who receives a Consumer Co…

18A:33-8 Posting of drinking water test reports by nonpublic schools. 7. a. The chief administrative officer of every nonpublic school required to prepare a Consumer Confidence Report pursuant to the "Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996,"42 U.S.C.s.300f et al., or who rece…

18A:33-8.1 Definitions. 1. As used in this act: "Drinking fountain" means a plumbing fixture that is connected to the potable water distribution system and drainage system that allows a user to obtain a drink directly from a stream of flowing water without the use of any accessor…

18A:33-8.2 School Lead Filters program. 2. a. No later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this act, the Commissioner of Education shall establish a School Lead Filters program to provide grants, subject to available appropriations, for the purchase and installation of p…

18A:33-8.3 Guidance relative to installing point-of-use filtered bottle-filling stations, filtered faucets. 3. No later than six months after the date of enactment of this act, the commissioner may develop and disseminate guidance to public schools to assist in the development of…

18A:33-8.4 Report to Governor, Legislature. 4. No later than six months after the end of the 2025-2026 school year, the commissioner shall submit a report to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature on the implementation of the…

18A:33-9. Findings, declarations relative to school breakfast programs 1. The Legislature finds and declares that: a. The federal School Breakfast Program is a federally assisted meal program that is implemented in public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care i…

18A:34-1. Textbooks; selection; furnished free with supplies; appropriations Textbooks shall be selected by the recorded roll call majority vote of the full membership of the board of education of the district and they and other school supplies shall be furnished free of cost for…

18A:34-2. Care and keeping of textbooks and accounting Every board of education shall make rules for the safekeeping and proper care of textbooks, and shall keep an account of all moneys expended by it for textbooks and supplies, in accordance with bookkeeping directions prescrib…

18A:34-3. Statewide textbook bank, creation; database 1. a. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the Department of Education shall coordinate the sharing of textbooks among school districts by creating a Statewide textbook bank. The Department of Education shall create …

18A:34-4. Guidelines on useful life of certain textbooks 2. a. The Department of Education shall develop and disseminate to school districts, guidelines on the useful life of textbooks in the core curriculum content standards subject areas. Textbooks exceeding the useful life gui…

18A:34A-1 Short title. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Freedom to Read Act." L.2024, c.96, s.1.

18A:34A-2 Findings, declarations. 2. The Legislature finds and declares that: a. The freedom to read is a human right, constitutionally protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, and individuals have the right to free inquiry and the right to form their o…

18A:34A-3 Definitions regarding public libraries. 3. As used in sections 4 through 7 of this act: "Board of education" means a board of education as defined in N.J.S.18A:18A-2, the board of directors of an educational services commission, a board of trustees of a charter school, …

18A:34A-4 School library, material curation policy. 4. a. A board of education shall adopt a policy on the curation of library material within a school library. The purpose of the curation policy is to: provide standards for the curation of library material, establish criteria fo…

18A:34A-5 Removal request procedure, school library. 5. a. A board of education shall adopt a policy establishing a procedure regarding a request for removal of library material within a school library. When developing the policy, the board shall review the model policy establish…

18A:34A-6 Censorship of school library material prohibited, right to reserve, check out. 6. a. A board of education shall not remove library material from a school library in the district because of the origin, background, or views of the library material or those contributing to…

18A:34A-7 Immunity, school library staff. 7. A school library staff member who engages in activities as required by sections 4 through 6 of this act shall be immune from civil and criminal liability arising from good faith actions performed pursuant to the provisions of those sec…

18A:35-1. 2-year course of study in history The superintendent of schools in each school district shall prepare and recommend to the board of education of the district, and the board of education shall adopt a suitable two-year course of study in the history of the United States,…

18A:35-10. Military training course; when required; preparation If the State board shall determine that the courses in health, safety and physical education, as prescribed for male pupils in the high school, shall include a course in military training, such course in military tra…

18A:35-11. Military training; referendum If the state board does not require the course in military training to be included in courses in health, safety and physical training, the question of the inclusion thereof, in such courses to be given in any district, shall be submitted t…

18A:35-12. Result of election; establishment of course If, at such election, the number of votes cast in favor of the adoption of the question shall exceed the number of votes cast against the adoption of the question, military training shall be included in the courses in health,…

18A:35-13. Expenses of maintaining military training The funds required to furnish the necessary equipment for such course in military training and to meet the expenses incident thereto shall be provided in the same manner as funds for other equipment and expenses in public schoo…

18A:35-14. Instructors in military training; qualifications; salary Every instructor of such course in military training shall hold at all times a certificate as to his qualifications as an instructor in military training from the Adjutant General of the Department of Defense, an…

18A:35-15. Legislative findings The Legislature finds that there are large numbers of children in the State who come from environments where the primary language is other than English. Experience has shown that public school classes in which instruction is given only in English a…

18A:35-16. Definitions As used in this act, the following words and phrases shall have the following meaning: "Children of limited English-speaking ability" means those children whose primary language is other than English and who have difficulty performing ordinary classwork in …

18A:35-17. Identification and classification of children of limited English-speaking ability Each school district shall identify and ascertain, according to rules prescribed by the Commissioner of Education with the approval of the State board, the children attending the schools …

18A:35-18. Programs in bilingual education; establishment; number of pupils; waiver 4. a. When, at the beginning of any school year, there are within the schools of the district 20 or more pupils of limited English-speaking ability in any one language classification, the board of…

18A:35-19. Period of continuance of participation by pupil Every pupil participating in a program established pursuant to this act shall be entitled to continue such participation for a period of 3 years. L.1974, c. 197, s. 5, eff. Jan. 8, 1975.