Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ROBERT AUTH
District 39 (Bergen and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Peterson
SYNOPSIS
“Protecting Parental Involvement in Curriculum Act”; provides that parent may opt student out of learning material or activity that parent considers harmful.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the public school curriculum and supplementing chapter 35 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Protecting Parental Involvement in Curriculum Act.”
2. The board of education of a school district, in consultation with parents and guardians of students enrolled in the district, shall develop and adopt procedures by which a parent or guardian who objects to a learning material or activity on the basis that it is harmful may withdraw his child from the activity, class, or program in which the material is used. The student shall be excused from the objectionable portion of the curriculum and no penalties as to credit or graduation shall result therefrom. An objection to a learning material or activity on the basis that it is harmful includes, but is not limited to, an objection that the material or activity questions, violates, or conflicts with the parent or guardian’s belief or practice regarding sex, sexuality, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, conscience, ethics, morality, or religion.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill, which is to be known as the “Protecting Parental Involvement in Curriculum Act,” requires the board of education of a school district, in consultation with parents and guardians of students enrolled in the district, to develop and adopt procedures by which a parent or guardian who objects to a learning material or activity on the basis that it is harmful may withdraw his child from the activity, class, or program in which the material is used. The student will be excused from the objectionable portion of the curriculum with no penalties as to credit or graduation as a result of the withdrawal. An objection to a learning material or activity on the basis that it is harmful includes, but is not limited to, an objection that the material or activity questions, violates, or conflicts with the parent or guardian’s belief or practice regarding sex, sexuality, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, conscience, ethics, morality, or religion.