TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senators Jeff Van Drew and Jim Beach that would make absences from school on Veterans Day excused, in cases where a student is taking the day off to participate in a veterans’ activity, is now law.
The law was prompted by a case that took place just over a year ago in Upper Township, in which a fifth grade student’s absence from school on Veterans Day, during which she volunteered to serve lunch to veterans, was marked unexcused. According to a news report, the Upper Township School District Superintendent said at the time that while the school internally treats these kinds of absences as excused, they are considered unexcused for state attendance records because they are neither for an approved religious holiday nor the national Take Your Child To Work Day. He also said that failing to comply with the state law could result in state funding being withheld, according to the report.
“Any student who takes the initiative, especially at a young age, to participate in a veterans’ activity should be applauded, not penalized. Certainly, on a day when the entire country is coming together to honor our American heroes, a student’s absence from school to attend or volunteer their time at a veterans-related event should be excused,” said Senator Van Drew (D-Cape May/Cumberland/Atlantic).
“Visiting veterans at a local hospital, serving meals or participating in an activity on behalf of our veterans are worthy educational experiences for our students. This will make sure that absences for this kind of work are excused. Hopefully, it will also help to encourage young people to become more involved in helping veterans within the community,” said Senator Beach (D-Camden), chair of the Senate Military and Veterans Affairs Committee.
The law (S2731) provides that any student of a public school who is absent from school Nov. 11, Veterans Day, attending a ceremony honoring a veteran or a member of the United States Armed Forces or the New Jersey National Guard returning from overseas deployments, or assisting a veteran at a hospital, food shelter, or any similar facility, will have the absence recorded by the school district as an excused absence upon providing documentation of participation in the activity to the school district. The absence will be recorded as an excused absence on the pupil’s attendance record or on that of any group or class of which he or she is a member, and any transcript, application, employment form, or any similar form on which information concerning a pupil’s attendance record is requested will show only absences other than excused absences authorized under the law.
The law takes effect immediately.
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
