SENATE, No. 438

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

220th LEGISLATURE

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2022 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Senator  BOB SMITH

District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)

Senator  RICHARD J. CODEY

District 27 (Essex and Morris)

SYNOPSIS

     Changes entity responsible for management of NJ School of Conservation to nonprofit organization, and directs DOE to request funding for center annually.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.

An Act concerning the New Jersey School of Conservation and amending, supplementing, and repealing various sections of P.L.1981, c.148.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

     1.    Section 1 of P.L.1981, c.148 (C.18A:64I-1) is amended to read as follows:

     1.    The 240 acre tract of land known as the New Jersey School of Conservation, located in Stokes State Forest, Sussex county, New Jersey, together with all the buildings thereon, and under the management and control of the Division of Parks [,] and Forestry [and Recreation] in the Department of Environmental Protection, shall be used in perpetuity as a school for environmental field study under the direction of [the Board of Trustees of Montclair State University] the Friends of the New Jersey School of Conservation, a tax-exempt nonprofit organization.

(cf: P.L.2017, c.178, s.42)

     2.    (New section)  a.  No later than January 15 of each year, the Friends of the New Jersey School of Conservation shall submit to the Commissioner of Education a financial statement that contains all available revenue and expenditure figures for the New Jersey School of Conservation during the current fiscal year and an estimate of revenue and expenditure figures for the subsequent fiscal year, including a requested amount for State funding for the subsequent fiscal year.

     b.    The Commissioner of Education shall include an appropriate amount of funding to maintain and support the New Jersey School of Conservation in the school aid portion of the Department of Education's annual budget request.  The Department of Education shall grant all moneys appropriated for this purpose by an annual appropriations act to the Friends of the New Jersey School of Conservation, which shall expend the funds for the expenses necessary for the operation of the New Jersey School of Conservation, including maintenance of the grounds and buildings, purchase of equipment, funding educational programs, and housing students and teachers.

     3.    Sections 2 and 3 of P.L.1981, c.148 (C.18A:64I-2 and C.18A:64I-3) are repealed.

     4.    This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

     This bill would change the management of the New Jersey School of Conservation (NJSOC), located in Stokes State Forest, Sussex County, from Montclair State University to the Friends of the New Jersey School of Conservation, a nonprofit organization.

     The bill would also direct the Friends of the New Jersey School of Conservation to submit financial figures and a request for State funding to the Department of Education (DOE) no later than January 15 of each year.  The bill would also direct the DOE to include an appropriate amount to maintain the operations of the NJSOC in the school aid portion of its annual budget request.  Finally, the bill would repeal the sections of law that require the Board of Trustees of Montclair State University to request and expend funding for the NJSOC.

     Originally established in 1949, the NJSOC is the oldest and the largest university-based environmental education facility in the nation, and some of its buildings were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps.  It has served as a school for environmental field studies for K-12 students, college students, graduate students, and teachers.  In 1981, Governor Brendan Byrne enacted a law that permanently designated the NJSOC as a school for environmental field study under the direction of the Board of Trustees of Montclair State University.  However, in May 2020, Montclair State announced that it was no longer financially viable for the university to administer the school due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that it would transfer all control of the grounds back to the DEP.