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S3791
SENATE, No. 3791
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED MARCH 5, 2026
Sponsored by:
Senator� M. TERESA RUIZ
District 29 (Essex and Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
���� Establishes New Jersey Community Learning Program in
DOE to provide comprehensive extended learning time programs in certain
communities; dedicates portion of State cannabis revenue to support program.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
establishing the New Jersey Community Learning Program
in the Department of Education 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.��� As used in
P.L. , c.
(C. ) (pending before the
Legislature as this bill):
���� �Assistance fund� means the New
Jersey Community Learning Assistance Fund established pursuant to section 5 of
P.L. , c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill).
���� �Commissioner� means the
Commissioner of Education.
���� �Department� means the
Department of Education.
���� �Impact district� means a
school district that is located within an impact zone.
���� �Impact zone� means any
municipality, based on past criminal marijuana enterprises contributing to
higher concentrations of law enforcement activity, unemployment, and poverty
within parts of or throughout the entity, that:
���� (1)�� has a population of
120,000 or more according to the most recently compiled federal decennial
census as of the effective date of P.L. ,
c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill); or
���� (2)�� ranks in the top 40
percent of municipalities in the State for marijuana- or hashish-related
arrests for violation of paragraph (4) of subsection a. of N.J.S.2C:35-10 in
the calendar year next preceding the effective date of
P.L. ,
c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill); has a crime index total of 825
or higher based upon the indexes listed in the most recently issued annual
Uniform Crime Report by the Division of State Police as of that effective date;
and has a municipal average annual unemployment rate that ranks in the top 15
percent of all municipalities for the calendar year next preceding that
effective date, based upon average annual unemployment rates estimated for the
relevant calendar year by the Office of Research and Information in the
Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
���� �Non-school hour� includes any
hour when school is not in session, including before and after school and
during the summer recess.
���� 2.��� a.� There is established
in the department the New Jersey Community Learning Program to support the
provision of comprehensive extended learning time programs in certain areas
most impacted by the criminalization of cannabis.
���� b.��� An impact district, in
collaboration with the governing body of each municipality located within the
district, shall establish and implement an extended learning time program that
endeavors to close the achievement gap and provide services for enrolled
students during non-school hours.
���� c.���� An extended learning
time program may provide services at one or more locations, including existing
school facilities and approved off-site locations.� An impact district shall
provide participating students with transportation to and from any location
used to deliver program services.
���� 3.��� a.� Within 60 calendar
days following the effective date of P.L. ,
c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill), the board of education of an
impact district, in collaboration with the governing body of each municipality
located within the district, shall conduct two public hearings to receive
community input concerning the establishment of an extended learning time
program.
���� b.��� Within 120 calendar days
following the effective date of P.L. ,
c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill), the board of education of an
impact district shall submit a program plan to the commissioner.� In addition
to any other information that the commissioner may require, the program plan
shall include:
���� (1)�� a detailed description
of the services that will be provided through the program;
���� (2)�� a detailed description
of the background and qualifications of the personnel who will supervise and
staff the program;
���� (3)�� a schedule of the days
and hours during which the program will operate;
���� (4)�� the criteria that will
be used to determine eligibility for student participation in the program;
���� (5)�� an estimate of the
number of students who will participate in the program;
���� (6)�� the locations in which
academic assistance and community enrichment services will be provided;
���� (7)�� an estimate of the
annual cost of implementing the program; and
���� (8)�� any other information
that the board of education may deem necessary.
���� c.���� (1)� Within 30 calendar
days of receipt, the commissioner shall approve or conditionally approve the
program plan submitted by each impact district.� If the commissioner fails to
approve or conditionally approve a program plan within 30 calendar days of receipt,
the program plan shall be deemed approved.�
���� (2)�� If the commissioner
conditionally approves a program plan, the commissioner shall transmit, in
writing, to the board of education of the impact district each revision to the
program plan that shall be necessary for approval.� The program plan shall be
deemed approved when the board of education adopts all revisions contained in
the conditional approval.
���� (3)�� An impact district shall
not implement an extended learning time program before the program plan has
been approved by the commissioner.�
���� d.��� After approval of the
program plan, the board of education of an impact district may modify the
extended learning time program by submitting a revised program plan to the
commissioner for approval.� The revised program plan shall be reviewed and
approved in the same manner as the initial program plan.
���� 4.��� a.� The department shall
annually distribute such funding as is necessary, from the assistance fund
established pursuant to section 5 of P.L. ,
c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill), to each impact district to
defray the full costs of implementing the extended learning time program.�
���� b.��� All funds received by an
impact district pursuant to this section shall be accounted for in a special
revenue fund and used exclusively to implement the extended learning time
program.�
���� c.���� Notwithstanding any
provision of P.L. , c.
(C. ) (pending before the
Legislature as this bill) to the contrary, no impact district shall be required
to implement an extended learning time program during any year in which State
funding is not provided pursuant to this section.�
���� 5.��� a.� There is established
in the department a non-lapsing New Jersey Community Learning Assistance Fund.�
All monies held in the assistance fund shall be used exclusively to provide
funding to impact districts, as required in section 4 of
P.L. , c.
(C. ) (pending before the
Legislature as this bill).
���� b.��� Beginning in State
Fiscal Year 2027, there shall be annually deposited into the assistance fund an
amount determined by the Cannabis Regulatory Commission, established pursuant
to section 31 of P.L.2019, c.153 (C.24:6I-24), from the State revenue collected
from the tax imposed under the "Sales and Use Tax Act," P.L.1966,
c.30 (C.54:32B-1 et seq.), as amended and supplemented, or any other subsequent
law of similar effect, on the receipts from retail purchases of cannabis or
products created from or which included cannabis.
���� c.���� If in any year, the
amounts deposited into the assistance fund pursuant to subsection b. of this
section are insufficient to support the full distribution of funding to impact
districts, as required in section 4 of P.L. ,
c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill), the State shall appropriate such
additional amounts as are necessary from the Property Tax Relief Fund to the
assistance fund.
���� 6.��� The State Board of
Education shall adopt regulations pursuant to the "Administrative
Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) to effectuate the
provisions of P.L. , c.
(C. ) (pending before the
Legislature as this bill).
���� 7.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill establishes the New
Jersey Community Learning Program in the Department of Education to support the
provision of comprehensive extended learning time programs in certain areas
most impacted by the criminalization of cannabis (�impact zones�).� The costs
of the program would be supported by a portion of the annual State revenues
collected from the retail sale of recreational cannabis products.
���� Under the bill, every school
district located within an impact zone (�impact district�) would be required to
establish and implement an extended learning time program.� These programs
would endeavor to close the achievement gap and provide services for enrolled
students during non-school hours, including summer and holiday recesses.� The
bill allows these services to be provided at one or more locations, including
existing school facilities and approved off-site locations, except that the
district would be required to provide participating students with
transportation to and from any such location.
���� Following the effective date
of the bill, each impact district, in collaboration with the governing body of
each municipality located within the district, would be required to conduct two
public hearings to receive community input concerning the establishment of an
extended learning time program.� Before implementing the program, the board of
education of an impact district would also be required to submit a program plan
to the commissioner for approval.
���� At a minimum, the program plan
would be required to include: (1) a detailed description of the services that
will be provided through the program; (2) a detailed description of the
background and qualifications of the personnel who will supervise and staff the
program; (3) a schedule of the days and hours during which the program will
operate; (4) the criteria that will be used to determine eligibility for
student participation in the program; (5) an estimate of the number of students
who will participate in the program; (6) the locations in which academic
assistance and community enrichment services will be provided; (7) an estimate
of the annual cost of implementing the program; and (8) any other information
that the board of education may deem necessary.
���� The bill requires the
commissioner to approve or conditionally approve each program plan within 30
calendar days of receipt.� If the commissioner conditionally approves a program
plan, the plan would be deemed approved when the board of education adopts all
revisions contained in the conditional approval.� Thereafter, an impact
district may modify its extended learning time program by submitting a revised
program plan to the commissioner for approval.
���� Under the bill, the department
would be required to annually distribute such funding as is necessary to each
impact district to defray the full costs of implementing the extended learning
time program.� The bill requires all State funds received by an impact district
to be accounted for in a special revenue fund and used exclusively to implement
the extended learning time program.� The bill provides that an impact district
would not be required to implement an extended learning time program during any
year in which State funding is not provided pursuant to this bill.
���� The bill also establishes the
New Jersey Community Learning Assistance Fund, which would be used to
distribute program funding to impact districts.� Beginning in State Fiscal Year
2027, the bill requires the State to annually deposit into the assistance fund
an amount determined by the Cannabis Regulatory Commission from the State
revenue collected from the tax imposed under the "Sales and Use Tax
Act," P.L.1966, c.30 (C.54:32B-1 et seq.) on the retail
sale of recreational cannabis products.� However, if in any year, these amounts
are insufficient to support the full distribution of funding to impact
districts, the State would be required to appropriate such additional amounts
as are necessary from the Property Tax Relief Fund to the assistance fund.
���� This bill would take effect on
the date of enactment, or on the effective date of an amendment to the State
Constitution to legalize cannabis for personal, non-medical use by adults who
are 21 years of age or older, whichever occurs later.�