Establishes "New Jersey Out-of-School Time Advisory Commission" to review before-school, after-school, and summer programs.

A1919

ASSEMBLY, No. 1919

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman ANNETTE QUIJANO

District 20 (Union)

Assemblywoman ROSAURA "ROSY" BAGOLIE

District 27 (Essex and Passaic)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywomen Carter, Reynolds-Jackson, Speight, Murphy,
Assemblyman Venezia, Assemblywomen Park and Dunn

SYNOPSIS

���� Establishes "New Jersey Out-of-School Time
Advisory Commission" to review before-school, after-school, and summer
programs.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act

establishing the �New Jersey Out-of-School Time
Advisory Commission.�

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� a.� There is established
a New Jersey Out-of-School Time Advisory Commission.

���� b.� The commission shall
consist of 22 members, including:

���� �(1)

the
Commissioners of Education, Human Services, and Children and Families, and the
Secretary of Higher Education, ex officio, or their designees;

���� (2) one member of the Senate
appointed by the President of the Senate;

���� (3) one member of the General
Assembly appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly; and

���� �(4)� 16 public members
appointed by the Governor, including one representative from each of the
following: the New Jersey Council for Young Children; the Advocates for
Children of New Jersey; the New Jersey School Age Care Coalition; the New
Jersey Association of School Administrators; the New Jersey Parent-Teacher
Association; the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network; the New Jersey Education
Association; the American Federation of Teachers - New Jersey; the New Jersey
School Boards Association; the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors
Association; the New Jersey Charter Schools Association; the Advisory Committee
for Nonpublic Schools of the Department of Education; the New Jersey Child Care
Association; the Boys and Girls Clubs in New Jersey; the New Jersey YMCA State
Alliance; and one academic researcher in the field of youth development.

���� 2.��� All appointments shall
be made within 30 days after the effective date of this act. Vacancies in the
membership of the commission shall be filled in the same manner as the original
appointments were made. Members of the commission shall serve without compensation
but shall be entitled to their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the
performance of their duties within the limits of funds made available to the
commission for its purposes.

���� 3.��� The commission shall
organize within 60 days after the appointment of its members and shall select a
chairperson and a vice-chairperson from among its legislative members and a
secretary who need not be a member of the commission.

���� 4.��� The chairperson shall
retain and may remove a consultant and other personnel as deemed necessary for
the performance of the commission�s duties, and shall fix their compensation
within the amounts made available. The duties of the consultant shall include,
but not be limited to, organizing public hearings; conducting site visits; facilitating
the interaction between the commission and work groups; and preparing the
interim and final reports.

���� 5.��� It shall be the duty of
the commission to:

���� a.���� assess the state of
out-of-school time programs in New Jersey by reviewing the policies of all
State agencies that fund before-school, after-school, or summer programs, as
well as review existing research and best practices;

���� b.��� adopt appropriate
Statewide standards for out-of-school time program design, implementation, and
assessment;

���� c.���� examine the existing
amount of funding available for out-of-school time programs and the source of
the funding; and

���� d.��� examine the development
and operation of out-of-school time programs in urban, suburban, and rural
school districts, and make recommendations to increase the accountability and
quality of the before-school, after-school, and summer programs.

���� 6.��� The Department of
Education, in consultation with the Office of the Secretary of Higher
Education, shall, within 90 days of the effective date of this act, select a
public institution of higher education in the State to provide staff and
related support services to the commission. The commission shall be entitled to
call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of the employees of any
State, county or municipal department, board, bureau, commission or agency as
it may require and as may be available for its purposes.

���� 7.��� The commission shall
issue an interim report of its findings and recommendations, including any
recommended legislation, to the Governor, the Senate Education Committee, and
the Assembly Education Committee, no later than one year after its
organizational meeting, and a final report no later than two years after its
organizational meeting.

���� 8.��� This act shall take
effect immediately and the commission shall expire 30 days after the submission
of the final report.

STATEMENT

����� This bill establishes a New Jersey Out-of-School Time
Advisory Commission.

����� Under the bill, the commission is to consist of 22
members including
the Commissioners of Education, Human Services, and
Children and Families, and the Secretary of Higher Education, ex officio, or
their designees
; one member
of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate; one member of the
General Assembly appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly; and 16
public members appointed by the Governor, including one representative from
each of the following: the New Jersey Council for Young Children; the Advocates
for Children of New Jersey; the New Jersey School Age Care Coalition; the New
Jersey Association of School Administrators; the New Jersey Parent-Teacher
Association; the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network; the New Jersey Education
Association; the American Federation of Teachers - New Jersey; the New Jersey
School Boards Association; the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors
Association; the New Jersey Charter Schools Association; the Advisory Committee
for Nonpublic Schools of the Department of Education; the New Jersey Child Care
Association;
the Boys and Girls Clubs in New Jersey; the New Jersey YMCA
State Alliance;
and one
academic researcher in the field of youth development.

����� The duties of the commission are to:

����� (1)� assess the state of out-of-school time programs
in New Jersey by reviewing the policies of all State agencies that fund
before-school, after-school, or summer programs, as well as review existing
research and best practices;

����� (2)� adopt appropriate Statewide standards for
out-of-school time program design, implementation, and assessment;

����� (3)� examine the existing amount of funding available
for out-of-school time programs and the source of the funding; and

����� (4)� examine the development and operation of
out-of-school time programs in urban, suburban, and rural school districts, and
make recommendations to increase the accountability and quality of the
before-school, after-school, and summer programs.

����� Under the bill, the Department of Education, in
consultation with the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education, is to,
within 90 days of the bill�s effective date, select a public institution of
higher education in the State to provide staff and related support services to
the commission.

����� The bill directs the commission to issue an interim
report of its findings and recommendations, including any recommended
legislation, to the Governor, the Senate Education Committee, and the Assembly
Education Committee, no later than one year after its organizational meeting,
and a final report no later than two years after its organizational meeting.
The commission is to expire 30 days after the submission of the final report.