Requires school districts to institute policies to improve emergency communications to increase school security.

A240

ASSEMBLY, No. 240

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman JOHN V. AZZARITI JR., M.D.

District 39 (Bergen)

Assemblywoman� YVONNE LOPEZ

District 19 (Middlesex)

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires school districts to institute policies to
improve emergency communications to increase school security.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

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

��

An Act
concerning school security and supplementing chapter 41
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 school district shall
provide to all persons employed or assigned by the school district to school
security positions, a two-way radio for communicating directly with emergency
responders.� The two-way radio shall be capable of having a dedicated channel
separate from the regular operational police frequencies.

���� 2.��� A school district shall
develop procedures to notify parents, and such other persons as deemed
appropriate by the school district, of school emergency situations through
multiple communication platforms including, but not limited to, telephone
calls, text messages, and mass email.

���� 3.��� A school district shall
test the functionality of all of its emergency communication systems, including
strength of signals and calls to a 9-1-1 emergency telephone system and to
emergency responders� radios within the school, on at least a monthly basis.

���� 4.��� The Commissioner of
Education shall develop strategies to:

���� a.���� Encourage school
districts to review and update their school safety and security plans to ensure
that they clearly identify who is responsible for contacting the primary
emergency response agency in the event of any emergency and that they employ
plain language to notify the school population that an emergency condition
exists;

���� b.��� Encourage school
districts to implement measures to ensure that all teachers and other school
employees have the ability to communicate with the school administration while
school is in session.� The means of communication may be in the form of
classroom telephones, portable radios, intercom systems, cell phones, or other
such means as determined by the school district; and

���� c.���� Encourage the use of
new technologies to allow communication among all essential personnel during
school emergencies.� The commissioner shall review the viability of various
technologies to enhance safety, including camera feeds of school facilities
directly to police patrol cars; panic buttons in schools that are a direct line
to the local police department; and dedicated school emergency frequencies for
walkie-talkies.�

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

STATEMENT

���� The bill requires each school
district to:

--provide all persons employed or
assigned to school security positions with a two-way radio for communicating
directly with emergency responders;

--develop procedures to notify
parents and other appropriate persons of school emergency situations through
multiple communication platforms, such as telephone calls, text messages, and
mass email; and

--test the functionality of all of
its emergency communication systems on at least a monthly basis.

���� The bill also requires the
Commissioner of Education to develop strategies to encourage:

--school districts to review and
update their existing school safety and security plans to ensure that they
clearly identify who is responsible for contacting the primary emergency
response agency in the event of any emergency and that they employ plain language
to notify the school population that an emergency condition exists;

--school districts to implement
measures to ensure that all teachers and other school employees have the
ability to communicate with the school administration while school is in
session.� The means of communication may be in the form of classroom telephones,
portable radios, intercom systems, cell phones, or other such means as
determined by the school district; and�

--the use of new technologies to
allow communication among all essential personnel during school emergencies.