SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 1777

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  DECEMBER 5, 2024

The Senate Education Committee favorably reports Senate Bill No. 1777 with committee amendments.

As amended, this bill directs the Commissioner of Education to establish a three-year pilot program for the implementation of school-based mentoring in public schools located in a crisis zone.  The purpose of the pilot program is to improve the social-emotional and behavioral skills of young children in grades kindergarten through three who are at risk for mental health disorders and substance abuse. 

     Under the amended bill, the commissioner is to select the Jersey City School District and, upon application in a form as required by the commissioner, six additional public schools located in a crisis zone to participate in the pilot program.  A crisis zone is defined in the bill as an area within 1,000 feet of school property where gunfire occurred in the prior school year. 

     The commissioner is directed to adopt a curriculum for the program that includes a series of hierarchically-ordered skill trainings in weekly, 25 minute one-on-one sessions.  The curriculum is to address the: (1) monitoring of one’s own and others’ emotions; (2) building resilience and gaining effective coping skills to deal with complex emotions; and (3) skills for maintaining control and equilibrium.  The commissioner is authorized to make grants to participating public schools in amounts as determined necessary by the commissioner to assist the schools in the implementation of the pilot program.  The commissioner may contract with a qualified third party to establish and administer the pilot program.

     Under the bill, a participating school is to:

· designate and train three to five mentors to facilitate the program; 

· identify students for the program who have problems in certain developmental areas; 

· use the curriculum approved by the commissioner to deliver the program; and

· evaluate participating students at the beginning, mid-point, and completion of the curriculum.

     This bill is modeled on the Rochester Resilience Project, which has shown promising results in improving the emotional regulation of at-risk children through the provision of targeted mentoring instruction.

      This bill was pre-filed for introduction in the 2024-2025 session pending technical review.  As reported, the bill includes the changes required by technical review, which has been performed.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to:

· clarify that charter schools and renaissance school projects may be included for participation in the pilot program;

· require public schools seeking to participate in the pilot program to submit an application to the Commissioner of Education on a form as required by the commissioner;

· permit the commissioner to contract with a qualified third party to establish and administer the program; and

· make technical changes.