Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH A. LAGANA
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Requires school districts that offer student psychological services to offer remote sessions.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning student psychological services and supplementing chapter 40 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. A school district that employs a school psychologist and offers in-person school psychology services to students in grades kindergarten through 12, or any combination thereof, shall permit students to attend counseling sessions or meetings of any kind with the school psychologist through virtual or remote means.
b. Nothing in subsection a. of this section shall be construed to prohibit any student from attending an in-person counseling session or meeting with a school psychologist employed by the school district.
c. As used in this section, “school psychologist” means a person who holds a New Jersey standard educational services certificate with a school psychologist endorsement.
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first apply to the first full school year after the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires school districts that employ a school psychologist and offer in-person school psychology services to students in grades kindergarten through 12 to allow students to attend counseling sessions or meetings of any kind through virtual or remote means.
Under the bill, a student will not be required to attend a school counseling session or meeting with a school psychologist remotely, and will be permitted to continue to attend sessions in-person. As used in the bill, a “school psychologist” means a person who holds a New Jersey standard educational services certificate with a school psychologist endorsement.
School psychologists assist educators in implementing safe, healthy classroom and school environments by providing students with a wide range of emotional and academic services. This bill ensures that students who are unable to attend in-person sessions, for whatever reason, will continue to have access to their school psychologist by offering virtual or remote counseling sessions.