NJ Senate Bill S1020, sponsored by Senators Ruiz (D-29) and Gopal (D-11), requires school districts to report detailed demographic information regarding students receiving disciplinary actions. The information must include race, gender, disability, grade level, and eligibility for free or reduced price lunch under the National School Lunch Program, for all students who received one or more suspensions or expulsions or who were reported to or arrested by law enforcement. The disciplinary information is to be included in the NJDOE School Report Card data conveyed to the legislature.
The Bill also adds a requirement that the School Report Card data be entered into a public database that provides school level totals for each category of student disciplinary actions, including in-school suspensions, out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, referrals to law enforcement, and arrests, as well as the demographic information of students who received disciplinary actions.
The Bill has passed the Assembly and has been referred out of the Senate Education Committee.
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