Requires teaching staff members and school board members to annually receive training on trauma-informed education.

A2166

ASSEMBLY, No. 2166

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman SHANIQUE SPEIGHT

District 29 (Essex and Hudson)

Assemblywoman ELIANA PINTOR MARIN

District 29 (Essex and Hudson)

Assemblyman STERLEY S. STANLEY

District 18 (Middlesex)

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires teaching staff members and school board
members to annually receive training on trauma-informed education.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

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

��

An Act

concerning teacher and staff training on
trauma-informed education in public schools and supplementing chapter 26 of
Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.�

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

���� �1.�� As used in this act:

�Adverse childhood experiences,� or ACEs, mean potentially
traumatic events that occur in childhood, which may include: experiencing
violence or abuse; witnessing violence in the home or community; or having a
family member attempt or die by suicide.� ACEs also include aspects of the child�s
environment that can undermine their sense of safety, stability, and bonding
such as growing up in a household with: substance misuse; mental health
problems; instability due to parental separation; or household members who are
incarcerated.�
�Trauma-informed education� means a school-wide approach
to education and a classroom-based approach to student learning that recognizes
the signs and symptoms of trauma in students, families, and staff and responds
by fully integrating knowledge about trauma-informed policies, professional
learning, procedures and practices for the purposes of recognizing the presence
and onset of trauma, resisting the reoccurrence of trauma, and promoting
resiliency; and

���� �2.�� A school district shall
annually provide information and training to each teaching staff member and
board member on the concept of trauma-informed education, as a method to combat
the long-term effects of adverse childhood experiences on children�s cognitive
functioning, as well as on their physical, social, emotional, mental, and
spiritual well-being.� The district shall utilize the guidelines and resources
provided by the Department of Education pursuant to section 3 of this act in
meeting this requirement.�

���� �3.�� a.� The Department of
Education shall develop and distribute to school districts guidelines
concerning trauma-informed education.� The purpose of the guidelines shall be
to provide direction to school districts in fulfilling the professional
training requirement established pursuant to section 2 of this act.�

���� �b.�� The guidelines shall
include, but need not be limited to, research-based information regarding:

���� (1)�� the impact of trauma on
students� educational experiences and on the school and classroom culture;

���� (2)�� how to identify the
signs of trauma in students;

���� (3)�� best practices for
schools and classrooms regarding trauma-informed approaches to education; and

���� (4)�� recognition of the
impact of secondary trauma on school employees.

���� 4.��� This act shall take
effect in the first full school year following the date of enactment.�

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires each school
district to annually provide information and training to each teaching staff
member and board member on the concept of trauma-informed education, as a
method to combat the long-term effects of adverse childhood experiences on
children�s cognitive functioning, as well as on their physical, social,
emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being.� Under the bill, the district is
directed to avail itself of the guidelines and resources on this topic provided
by the Department of Education pursuant to the bill�s provisions.�

���� Additionally, the bill directs
the Department of Education to develop and distribute to school districts
guidelines concerning trauma-informed education.� The purpose of the guidelines
will be to provide direction to school districts in fulfilling the professional
training requirement established pursuant to the bill�s provisions.���

���� Under the bill, the guidelines
must include, but need not be limited to, research-based information regarding:

�

the impact of trauma on students� educational experiences and on
the school and classroom culture;

�

how to identify the signs of trauma in students;

�

best practices for schools and classrooms regarding
trauma-informed approaches to education; and

�

recognition of the impact of secondary trauma on school
employees.