Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman CAROL A. MURPHY
District 7 (Burlington)
Assemblywoman LINDA S. CARTER
District 22 (Middlesex, Somerset and Union)
Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
SYNOPSIS
Permits youth-serving patriotic societies to speak with public school students during regular school hours.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the civic engagement of public school students and supplementing chapter 36 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 principal of a public school shall permit a representative of a patriotic society that is intended to serve young people under the age of 21 to speak to students during regular school hours in the first quarter of the school year. The patriotic society shall provide the school principal with verbal or written notice of the society’s intent to speak to the students to inform the students about the civic involvement of the society, and to explain how students may participate in or join the patriotic society. The patriotic society shall not solicit personal information from students during the visit. A school principal shall have discretion over the time, place, and manner of the representative’s visit.
b. As used in this section, “patriotic society” means an organization listed in Title 36 of the United States Code.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the principal of a public school to permit a representative of a patriotic society that is intended to serve young people under the age of 21 to speak to students during regular school hours in the first quarter of the school year. A patriotic society interested in speaking with students must provide the school principal with verbal or written notice of the society’s intent to speak to the students to inform the students about the civic involvement of the society, and to explain how students may participate in or join the patriotic society. The bill provides that a patriotic society cannot solicit personal information from students during the visit. Under the bill, a school principal has discretion over the time, place, and manner of the representative’s visit. As used in this bill, “patriotic society” means an organization listed in Title 36 of the United States Code. As of September 2018, 101 patriotic societies are included in Title 36.