Sponsored by:
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires development of fact sheet about bedbugs to be posted on the Department of Education’s website.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the health of students 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. The Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services and the National Pest Management Association, shall develop a fact sheet that provides information about bedbugs. The fact sheet shall include, but not be limited to, an explanation of the following:
(1) the dangers of bedbugs;
(2) the ways in which bedbugs spread;
(3) the means of detecting a bedbug infestation;
(4) the warning signs of a bedbug infestation and symptoms of bedbug bites;
(5) the ways to prevent and eliminate an infestation of bedbugs; and
(6) methods of treating bedbug bites.
b. The commissioner shall post the fact sheet on the Department of Education’s website for school districts and students and parents to access, and shall update the fact sheet as necessary. The department shall notify school districts of the availability of the fact sheet on its website.
c. In the 2010-2011 school year and in each school year thereafter, each school district may distribute the fact sheet to students and their parents or guardians.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services and the National Pest Management Association, to develop a fact sheet that provides information about bedbugs. The fact sheet will include, but not be limited to, an explanation of the following:
(1) the dangers of bedbugs;
(2) the ways in which bedbugs spread;
(3) the means of detecting a bedbug infestation;
(4) the warning signs of a bedbug infestation and symptoms of bedbug bites;
(5) the ways to prevent and eliminate an infestation of bedbugs; and
(6) methods of treating bedbug bites.
The commissioner will post the fact sheet on the Department of Education’s website and will update the fact sheet as necessary. In the 2010-2011 school year and in each school year thereafter, each school district may distribute the fact sheet to students and their parents or guardians.
The purpose of this bill is to increase awareness of bedbugs and reduce the likelihood of the spread of bedbugs at schools. Bedbugs are small parasitic insects that often feed off of the blood of humans and tend to be most common in areas where people sleep. Bedbug infestations may result from the insects being transported in on clothing, luggage, beds, furniture, and other items on which they have become attached. In the past four years, reports of bedbugs have significantly increased in cities across the United States, especially in hotels, dormitories, and other places with high resident turnover.