SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 4162

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MARCH 17, 2025

     The Senate Education Committee favorably reports Senate Bill No. 4162.

     This bill limits the disclosure of certain education records.  Current law requires students, or the parent or guardians of students, as applicable, in the graduating classes of 2025, 2026, and 2027 to complete certain financial aid paperwork unless a waiver is submitted.

     Under the bill, a waiver template or form developed by the Department of Education, a board of education, or a board of trustees of a charter school for use in collecting student financial aid information pursuant to the provisions of the bill is to require the student, parent or guardian, or school counselor, as applicable, to provide only the student’s name, telephone number, email address, date, and signature of the individual submitting the waiver.

     Under the bill, school districts and charter schools are prohibited from using or disclosing the waiver submitted under P.L.2023, c.295, or any personal information contained within the waiver, without the informed consent of the student or the student’s parent or guardian consistent with applicable federal and State-level protections of student educational records, including the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.  The bill stipulates it is not to be construed to prohibit, or in any way restrict, any action that is consistent with federal law.

     Under the bill, the department is to include language consistent with the prohibition on disclosure in any optional waiver template developed by the department for use by a school district or charter school in a prominent location on the waiver.  The bill requires a school district or charter school that uses a waiver developed by the district or charter school to also include language consistent with the prohibition on disclosure in a prominent location on the waiver.

     Finally, the bill provides that nothing in the bill is to be construed to invalidate a waiver submitted prior to the bill’s effective date and that a waiver submitted prior to the bill’s effective date is subject to the provisions of the bill concerning the prohibition on disclosure.