SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
SENATE, No. 2404
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: AUGUST 20, 2020
The Senate Education Committee favorably reports Senate Bill No. 2404.
This bill postpones the comprehensive review of certain school districts under the New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum (NJQSAC) until the 2021-2022 school year.
Under current law, each school district is required to undergo a comprehensive review under the State monitoring system, the NJQSAC. Each school district is currently required to undergo the comprehensive review once every three years according to a schedule established by the Commissioner of Education. As a result, only a certain number of school districts undergo monitoring during any given year.
Under the bill, the comprehensive review of certain districts would be postponed to allow school districts and the Department of Education to focus additional resources on addressing issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the bill requires the comprehensive review to be conducted during the 2021-2022 school year for any school district that was required to undergo its review during (1) the 2019-2020 school year, which review was not completed due to the COVID-19-related school closures; or (2) the 2020-2021 school year.
If a school district undergoes a comprehensive review during the 2021-2022 school as a result of the postponement, the district would be required to undergo its next review as if the postponement had not occurred (i.e., three years after the school year in which the review was originally scheduled to take place). The bill allows school districts to make a request to the commissioner for an exemption from the postponement. The bill also stipulates that the postponements required under the bill may not disrupt the schedule for any other school district’s comprehensive review.
As reported by the committee, this bill is identical to Assembly Bill No. 4006, which also was reported by the committee on this same date.