Assembly Education Panel to Hold Hearing on Sexual Misconduct in Schools

(TRENTON) – Chairwoman Pamela Lampitt will hold a special hearing of the Assembly Education Committee on Tuesday to discuss sexual misconduct in New Jersey’s schools and how schools districts go about reporting these incidents.

“There has been much discussion recently about sexual misconduct as case after case of previously unreported or overlooked abuse has been brought to light. This national conversation has revealed the pervasiveness of sexual harassment in our society, and how victims are too often discouraged to speak up,” said Lampitt (D-Camden/Burlington). “Reporting abuse can be especially hard for children who might be intimidated by authority figures they thought they could trust. We need to make sure that schools are responding appropriately to these incidents, and that the environment is such that students who are being victimized feel comfortable speaking up against their perpetrators.”

The panel will hear testimony from invited guests regarding sexual misconduct in schools, including district practices for reporting misconduct committed by students and school personnel, compliance with federal reporting requirements, and public dissemination of this information.

The committee will meet on Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 11 a.m. in Committee Room 16 on the 4th floor of the State House Annex in Trenton.

Audio will be streamed at: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/media/live_audio.asp

The committee will also act on the following bills:

• (A-769) (Caputo/Giblin/Vainieri Huttle) – Requires school districts to incorporate age-appropriate sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention education in grades preschool through 12 as part of Core Curriculum Content Standards in Comprehensive Health and Physical Education.
• (A-2189) (Lampitt) – Requires school districts to include instruction on consequences of distributing sexually explicit images through electronic means as part of New Jersey Student Learning Standards in Health and Physical Education.
•   (A-2190) (Lampitt) – Requires school districts to incorporate instruction in grades six through 12 on law and meaning of consent for physical contact and sexual activity as part of Student Learning Standards in Comprehensive Health and Physical Education.
•  (A-3381) (Downey/Webber/Lampitt/ Lagana) – Requires school districts, charter schools, nonpublic schools, and contracted service providers to review employment history of prospective employees who will have regular contact with students to ascertain allegations of child abuse or sexual misconduct.
• (S-414) (Pennacchio/Bucco/Ruiz) – Requires school districts, charter schools, nonpublic schools, and contracted service providers to review employment history of prospective employees to ascertain allegations of child abuse or sexual misconduct and includes penalties for certain willful violations.