Requires school districts to permit students excused absences while experiencing symptoms of menstrual disorder.

A2182

ASSEMBLY, No. 2182

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 SHAMA A. HAIDER

District 37 (Bergen)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman Reynolds-Jackson

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires school districts to permit students excused
absences while experiencing symptoms of menstrual disorder.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

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

��

An Act
concerning excused absences from public school 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.� As used in this
section:

���� �Dysmenorrhea� means a
disorder that causes severe and frequent menstrual cramps and pain during
menstruation.

���� �Endometriosis� means a
disorder that causes pelvic pain that is often associated with menstruation.

���� �Menorrhagia� means a disorder
that causes heavy or prolonged bleeding during menstruation, often accompanied
by a lack of energy.

���� �Polycystic ovary syndrome�
means a disorder that may cause cysts and irregular periods.

���� b.� During the course of each
school year, a pupil of a public school experiencing symptoms of a menstrual
disorder shall be entitled to ten excused absences from school, for which the
pupil shall be given the opportunity to make up any school work missed during
the absence.� Menstrual disorders shall include, but are not limited to,
dysmenorrhea, endometriosis, menorrhea, and polycystic ovarian syndrome.

���� c.� The absences from school
during which time a pupil is experiencing symptoms of a menstrual disorder
shall be recorded as excused absences on the pupil�s attendance record or on
that of any group or class of which the pupil is a member. Any transcript,
application, employment form, or any similar form on which information
concerning a pupil�s attendance record is requested shall not show, with
respect to absences, any excused absences authorized pursuant to this
subsection.� In making a determination on whether or not a pupil has a perfect
attendance record for the school year, a school district shall not consider as
an absence an excused absence authorized pursuant to this subsection.

���� d.� A pupil shall provide such
medical documentation as the superintendent or administrative principal of the
school district deems necessary to prove the pupil meets the requirements for
the excused absence related to menstrual disorders under subsection b. of this
section.

���� 2.� The Commissioner of
Education, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health, shall provide
school districts with criteria for defining an excused absence from school
related to a menstrual disorder.

���� 3.� This act shall take effect
180 days following the date of enactment, but shall remain inoperative until
the first day of the first full school year following the effective date. The
Commissioner of Education may take such anticipatory action as shall be
necessary for the implementation of this act.

STATEMENT

���� This bill entitles a student
experiencing a menstrual disorder to ten excused absences from school while the
student is experiencing symptoms.� The absences will be considered
State-recognized excused absences.� Under the bill, menstrual disorders shall include,
but are not limited to, dysmenorrhea, endometriosis, menorrhea, and polycystic
ovarian syndrome.

���� The absences would not count
toward the 10 percent of days missed before a student is considered
�chronically absent� and cannot be used to exclude a student from any awards or
recognition on the basis of attendance.� As an excused absence, students are required
to be given the opportunity to make up any school work that was missed while
the student was experiencing symptoms of a menstrual disorder.� In order to
have the absence recognized as an approved menstrual disorder absence the
student may be required by the school district to provide any medical
documentation which the superintendent or administrative principal of the
school district deems necessary.

���� This bill requires the
Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health, to
provide school districts with criteria for defining an excused absence related
to a menstrual disorder.

���� This bill aims to address
period poverty, the term used to describe the circumstance surrounding an
individual�s inadequate access to menstrual hygiene tools and education,
including, but not limited to, access to menstrual products.� Menstruating
students of color, as well as students from low-income communities, are more
likely to experience period poverty.�

���� Menstrual disorders, and the
pain and discomfort associated with them, are often cited as the reason
menstruating students miss school days.� Menstrual disorders are also fairly
common; one in five menstruating students experience menorrhagia, and nearly 70
percent of menstruating students experience dysmenorrhea.� Students who attend
class while experiencing a menstrual disorder often report classroom
performance or concentration being negatively affected.� Additionally, nearly
one third of students who menstruate report missing at least one day of school
while experiencing menstruation.� Recent studies have shown that students are
significantly more likely to be absent from school on days when they are
experiencing menstruation relative to other school days.