Permits excused absence for student enlisted or planning to enlist in Armed Forces of United States or National Guard.

A211

ASSEMBLY, No. 211

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman DAWN FANTASIA

District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)

Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON

District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblyman Inganamort, Assemblywoman Flynn, Assemblymen
Scharfenberger, Sauickie, Assemblywoman Dunn, Assemblymen Myhre, Azzariti Jr.,
Barlas and Kanitra

SYNOPSIS

���� Permits excused absence for student enlisted or
planning to enlist in Armed Forces of United States or National Guard.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

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

��

An Act

concerning excused absences from public school
for military enlistment activities and supplementing chapter 36 of Title 18A of
the New Jersey Statutes.

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

���� 1.��� a.� Notwithstanding any
law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, a pupil of a public school enrolled
in grade 12 who enlists, or plans to enlist, in military service and is absent
from school to complete a military enlistment activity shall have the absence
for that purpose recorded as an excused absence on the pupil�s attendance
record. Any transcript, application, employment form, or any similar form on
which information concerning a pupil's attendance record is requested shall not
show excused absences authorized pursuant to this subsection.� In making a determination
on whether a student has a perfect attendance record for the school year, a public
school shall not consider as an absence an excused absence authorized pursuant
to this subsection.

���� b.� A pupil shall provide any
documentation the superintendent or administrative principal of the school
district deems necessary to prove the pupil meets the requirements for the
excused absence pursuant to subsection a. of this section.

���� c.� As used in this section:

���� �Military enlistment activity�
means any activity required by the Armed Forces of the United States or the
National Guard to be eligible to enlist in military service, including, but not
limited to, any testing, medical or physical evaluations, interviews, and
fingerprinting.

���� �Military service� means the
active and reserve components of the Armed Forces of the United States, or the
National Guard.

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill permits excused
absences for students enlisted or planning to enlist in the active and reserve
components of the Armed Forces of the United States or the National Guard.

���� The bill requires a student
enrolled in grade 12 who enlists, or plans to enlist, in the Armed Forces of
the United States and who is absent from school to complete a military
enlistment activity to receive a State-excused absence for that purpose. The absence
is not to be included on a student�s transcript, application, employment form,
or any similar form requested. The absence is also not to be considered when
determining if a student has a perfect attendance record for the school year.

���� Under the bill, a military
enlistment activity means any activity required by the Armed Forces of the
United States to be eligible to enlist including, but not limited to, any
testing, medical or physical evaluations, interviews, and fingerprinting.