Schools

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced Wednesday schools that certify they cannot meet health and safety standards by the first day of class, must start the year with all remote learning. 

The announcement comes a couple of days after the board for the Elizabeth School District in Union County voted to start the school year remotely; counter to Governor Murphy’s insistence that some form of in-person learning take place.

New York City is providing more help to tenants struggling to pay rent during the coronavirus pandemic. The city has launched a tenant protection portal that will offer tools and legal guidance to renters.

The mayor says the city needs to be there for the so many people who can’t afford a roof over their heads.

“I don’t want to see anyone lose their apartment because they can’t afford the rent because they just don’t have a livelihood anymore. So I want to say to anyone if you need help this is the place to go.”

Legislation that won unanimous approval in the New Jersey Assembly would extend anti-nepotism rules to the state’s public and charter schools.

Assemblyman Paul Moriarty says taxpayers deserve every assurance that the people charged with educating their children attained their positions because of what they know, not who they know.

A New Jersey Assembly committee has passed a package of bills aimed at preventing students from becoming a victim of sexual misconduct.

The legislation would require school districts to provide instruction on sexual abuse awareness, the meaning of consent for sexual activity, and the consequences of distributing sexually explicit images through electronic means.

Sussex County resident Allison Pereira says when she was a high school sophomore, a topless photo she sent to her ex-boyfriend went viral on the internet.

An analysis by an environmental group finds that 55 percent of the water in schools in New Jersey's most populous county show some level of lead contamination.

Schools had until last week to test their water for lead and Environment New Jersey director Doug O'Malley believes the results in Bergen County indicate what will be found statewide.

He says it's a wakeup call for the state to fund replacement of school water fountains and fixtures that contain lead.

New Jersey might ban the use of smokeless tobacco on school grounds.

Legislation to prohibit the use of that product in any area of a public school building has been advanced by the Assembly Education Committee.

Frank Belluscio with the New Jersey School Boards Association says the bill is in the interest of students’ health and safety.

“In many cases, young people just might not be aware. They’re not inhaling smoke and they might feel that chewing tobacco is like chewing bubble gum when in fact it does run the risk of both oral and throat cancer.”

New Jersey has an old law banning students from bringing pagers to school without written permission from the school board.

Lawmakers are moving to repeal it.

Senator Ron Rice was the sponsor of the 1989 law that he says has outlived its usefulness.

“We were at a time when you didn’t have cellphones and all the text messages and things like that. So, the pager was really used by drug dealers to take advantage of kids to be their street runners and their salespeople, and they were disturbing the schools.”

Every student in every class should have a textbook, according to legislation approved by the New Jersey Senate.

Senator Ron Rice is the primary sponsor of the measure.  He says students shouldn't have to share a textbook.

"You need those books to do homework. You need the books to get the home support for education. In urban communities, particularly where you have the majority of minorities and immigrant population, there's no reinforcement of what takes place in the learning process in school in many cases."

A package of bills advanced by a New Jersey Senate committee aims to reduce food waste and help ease hunger.

The legislation calls for an income tax break for businesses that give food to charitable organizations and liability protection for schools that donate edible items.

Paul Jensen with the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen says that would help food pantries.

The leader of a company that makes artificial sports fields told a New Jersey Senate committee allegations made in three-class action lawsuits are disturbing and inaccurate.

Newark schools, the borough of Carteret, and the owner of a soccer club in Clifton claim FieldTurf continued to sell its Duraspine product while knowing it was defective.

Eric Daliere, the chief executive officer of Field Turf, disputes claims that the fields are not living up to their 8 year warranty period.

New Jersey schools have another six months to comply with a state directive to test their drinking water for lead contamination.

The New Jersey Department of Education says about half of its 586 school districts have completed their testing and 21 have reported elevated lead levels.

Project Manager Jim Palmer says the schools have to shut off contaminated fountains and sinks and come up with a long-term solution to resolve the lead problem.

A bill advanced by the Assembly's Environment Committee would prohibit public schools and colleges in New Jersey from selling food in foam containers.

Assemblyman Troy Singleton says food remains on them, making the polystyrene containers difficult to recycle, so most recycling places won’t take them.

He says the foam products take years to degrade and small pieces end up littering streets and waterways.

"Because this stuff gets thrown out and finds its way into our waterways, by 2050 which isn't that far off we will have more plastic in our ocean than fish."