Establishes three-year pilot program for school-based mentoring in public schools located within 1,000 feet of gunfire.

A5304

ASSEMBLY, No. 5304

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED JUNE 23, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman� VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON

District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)

Assemblywoman� LINDA S. CARTER

District 22 (Somerset and Union)

SYNOPSIS

���� Establishes three-year pilot program for school-based
mentoring in public schools located within 1,000 feet of gunfire.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act

establishing a three-year pilot program for the
implementation of school-based mentoring in certain
public schools
and supplementing chapter 6 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, �crisis zone� means an area within 1,000 feet of
school property where gunfire occurred in the prior school year.�

����� b.�� The
Commissioner of Education shall establish a three-year pilot program for the
implementation of school-based mentoring in public schools located in a crisis
zone.� The purpose of the pilot program shall be to build emotional resilience
and improve the social-emotional and behavioral skills of young children in
grades kindergarten through three who are at risk for mental health disorders
and substance abuse.� The program is designed to improve the task orientation,
behavior control, assertiveness, and peer social skills of participating
students.�

����� c.�� The
commissioner shall select the Jersey City School District and, upon application
in a form as required by the commissioner,

six additional public schools located in a crisis zone to participate in
the pilot program.� The six additional public schools selected by the
commissioner shall include two public schools in each of the southern, central,
and northern regions of the State.

����� d.�� The
commissioner shall adopt a curriculum for the program that includes a series of
hierarchically-ordered skill trainings in weekly, 25 minute one-on-one
sessions.� The curriculum shall address the:

����� (1)
monitoring of one�s own and others� emotions;

����� (2)

building resilience and gaining effective
coping skills to deal with complex emotions; and

����� (3)
skills for maintaining control and equilibrium.

����� e.�� The
commissioner is authorized to make grants to participating public schools in
amounts as determined necessary by

the
commissioner to assist the schools in the implementation of the pilot program.

�����
f.�

The commissioner may contract with a qualified
third party to establish and administer the pilot program.

����� 2.�� It
shall be the responsibility of a participating school to:

����� a.�� designate
and train three to five mentors to facilitate the program.� Each mentor shall
be assigned to work with no more than 20 students;�

����� b.�� identify
students for the program who have problems in at least two of the following
areas:

����� (1)

behavioral development;

����� (2)
social-emotional development; or

����� (3)
on-task learning abilities in the school setting;

����� c.�� use
the curriculum approved by the commissioner pursuant to section 1 of this act
to deliver the program.� The curriculum shall be offered slowly and
sequentially in order to allow the student to absorb and understand the lesson
and practice the new skills in the classroom setting; and

����� d.�� evaluate
participating students at the beginning, mid-point, and completion of the
curriculum in each of the following areas:

����� (1)
recent disciplinary referrals and actions;

����� (2)
task orientation;

����� (3)
behavior control;

����� (4)
assertiveness versus withdrawn behavior; and

����� (5)
peer social skills.

���� 3.��� Upon the conclusion of
the pilot program, the commissioner shall report to the Governor, and to the
Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), on the
feasibility of implementing the program on a Statewide basis.�

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

STATEMENT

���� This bill directs the
Commissioner of Education to establish a three-year pilot program for the
implementation of school-based mentoring in public schools located in a crisis
zone. The purpose of the pilot program is to improve the social-emotional and behavioral
skills of young children in grades kindergarten through three who are at risk
for mental health disorders and substance abuse.

���� Under the bill, the
commissioner is to select the Jersey City School District and, upon application
in a form as required by the commissioner, six additional public schools
located in a crisis zone to participate in the pilot program.� A crisis zone is
defined in the bill as an area within 1,000 feet of school property where
gunfire occurred in the prior school year.�

���� The commissioner is directed
to adopt a curriculum for the program that includes a series of
hierarchically-ordered skill trainings in weekly, 25 minute one-on-one
sessions. The curriculum is to address the: (1) monitoring of one�s own and
others� emotions; (2) building resilience and gaining effective coping skills
to deal with complex emotions; and (3) skills for maintaining control and
equilibrium. The commissioner is authorized to make grants to participating
public schools in amounts as determined necessary by the commissioner to assist
the schools in the implementation of the pilot program. The commissioner may
contract with a qualified third party to establish and administer the pilot
program.

���� Under the bill, a
participating school is to:� designate and train three to five mentors to
facilitate the program; identify students for the program who have problems in
certain developmental areas; use the curriculum approved by the commissioner to
deliver the program; and evaluate participating students at the beginning,
midpoint, and completion of the curriculum.�

���� This bill is modeled on the
Rochester Resilience Project, which has shown promising results in improving
the emotional regulation of at-risk children through the provision of targeted
mentoring instruction.