Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman CAROL A. MURPHY
District 7 (Burlington)
Assemblyman BENJIE E. WIMBERLY
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes COVID-19 School District Accountability Task Force.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Joint Resolution establishing the COVID-19 School District Accountability Task Force.
Be It Resolved by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. There is established the COVID-19 School District Accountability Task Force. The purpose of the task force shall be to identify, evaluate, and make recommendations regarding the impact of the COVID-19 public health emergency on New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum (NJQSAC) District Performance Review scores in each of the five key components for any school district that reported in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years.
b. The task force shall consist of 15 members as follows:
(1) the Commissioner of Education or a designee, who shall serve ex officio;
(2) four public members, each of whom shall have demonstrated expertise in issues related to the work of the task force, appointed by legislative leadership as follows: one member appointed by the President of the Senate; one member appointed by the Senate Minority Leader; one member appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly; and one member appointed by the Assembly Minority Leader; and
(3) 10 members appointed by the Governor, who shall include: three public school principals and three public school administrators; one representative of the New Jersey Education Association; one representative of the New Jersey School Boards Association; one representative of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators; and one representative of the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association.
c. In making appointments to the task force, the Governor shall select representation from the geographic regions of the State.
d. Appointments to the task force shall be made within 30 days of the effective date of this resolution. Vacancies in the membership of the task force shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments were made. Members of the task force shall serve without compensation but shall be entitled to reimbursement for necessary expenditures incurred in the performance of their duties as members of the task force within the limits of funds made available to the task force for its purposes.
e. The commissioner, or the commissioners designee, shall serve as the chairperson of the task force. The task force shall organize within 30 days after the appointment of its members. The task force shall select a vice-chairperson from among its members and appoint a secretary who need not be a member of the task force.
f. The Department of Education shall provide such stenographic, clerical, and other administrative assistants, and such professional staff as the task force requires to carry out its work. The task force shall also be entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the service of the employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission or agency as it may require and as may be available to it for its purposes.
2. a. It shall be the duty of the task force to study the effects of the COVID-19 public health emergency on a school districts NJQSAC District Performance Review scores in each of the five key components of school district effectiveness: instruction and program; personnel; fiscal management; operations; and governance.
b. The task force shall:
(1) compare and analyze discrepancies in all school districts that submitted NJQSAC District Performance Reviews in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years with that districts last submitted District Performance Review;
(2) identify, compare, and quantify the impact of the COVID-19 public health emergency on quality performance indicator scores within the instruction and program, personnel, fiscal management, operations, and governance components. In evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 public health emergency on NJQSAC District Performance Review scores, the task force shall analyze all quality performance indicators as incorporated in the appendices of N.J.A.C.6A:30-1 et seq.;
(3) consider challenges that school districts faced in completing NJQSAC District Performance Reviews in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years; and
(4) make recommendations regarding: 1) a school districts ability to remediate discrepancies in scores by the next reporting pursuant to the schedule established by the commissioner; and 2) potential revisions to NJQSACs weight of each indicator within the five key components in the aftermath of the COVID-19 public health emergency.
3. The task force shall issue a final report of its findings and recommendations, including any recommended legislation, to the Governor, the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), and the State Board of Education no later than one year after its organizational meeting.
4. This joint resolution shall take effect immediately and shall expire upon submission of the task forces final report.
STATEMENT
This joint resolution establishes the COVID-19 School District Accountability Task Force. The purpose of the task force is to study the impact of the COVID-19 public health emergency on the New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum (NJQSAC) District Performance Review scores in each of the five key components of school district effectiveness for any district that reported in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years.
Under NJQSAC, the States school district monitoring program, school districts are evaluated, every three years based on a schedule established by the Commissioner of Education, in five key components of school district effectiveness: instruction and program; personnel; fiscal management; operations; and governance. A districts performance is measured by submitting a District Performance Review, which assigns poi