STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator JAMES BEACH
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
Senator SHIRLEY K. TURNER
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator McKnight
SYNOPSIS
Establishes County-Based School Security Pilot Program in DOE; appropriates $15 million.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Senate Education Committee with technical review.
An Act establishing the County-Based School Security Pilot Program, supplementing chapter 41 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes, and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this act:
“Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Education.
“Pilot county” means Essex, Mercer, and Camden counties.
“Pilot program” means the “County-Based School Security Pilot Program,” established pursuant to subsection b. of this section.
b. There is established in the Department of Education a three-year “County-Based School Security Pilot Program,” which shall establish county-based mental health services for public school students and provide security infrastructure to public schools. The pilot program shall be established in the counties of Essex, Mercer, and Camden.
c. The commissioner shall work in collaboration with the Commissioner of Human Services, the Commissioner of Children and Families, and the Director of the State Office of Emergency Management in the Division of State Police in the Department of Law and Public Safety to implement the pilot program which shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) a county-based mental health program available to students residing in a pilot county and attending a public school that incorporates the following: individual and group clinical mental health services; referrals to community-based mental health care providers; evidence-based interventions; mental health screenings; and crisis intervention; and
(2) additional security supports for school districts within a pilot county including, but not limited to, expanded access to training for active shooter scenarios; bullet-resistant mobile ballistic shields; and other protective equipment as deemed necessary by the commissioner.
d. In selecting school districts to receive additional security supports pursuant to subsection c. of this section, the commissioner shall consider the security needs of the district as reflected in the data reported in the commissioner’s annual report on violence, vandalism, and harassment, intimidation, or bullying in the school district, as required pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1982, c.163 (C.18A:17-48).
2. The commissioner shall submit a report to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), not more than one year after the implementation of the pilot program, and annually thereafter for a total of three years. The report shall contain information on the implementation of the pilot program, an evaluation of the mental health services available to students in a pilot county, and the recommendations of the commissioner on the advisability of continuing, expanding, or modifying the program.
3. There is appropriated $15 million from the General Fund to the Department of Education to implement the provisions of section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
4. This act shall take effect in the first full school year following the date of enactment, but the Commissioner of Education may take anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.