New guidelines developed through a collaborative effort by the Division on Civil Rights (DCR) and the Department of Education (DOE) have been issued by the New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and acting Department of Education Commissioner Dr. Angelica Allen-McMillan. The guidelines, available in a recently released document, are a response to a 2020 study revealing discriminatory disparities within student discipline based on protected characteristics under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.
The aim of these guidelines is to guarantee that New Jersey schools adopt codes of conduct and disciplinary policies that do not discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics. The document offers an overview of how the DCR applies the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD) within education settings. The new policy primarily focuses on averting discrimination based on race, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and disability. Additionally, it underlines the responsibility of school administrators to align their policies with NJLAD by educating students, faculty, staff, and families about the protections this law offers.
Jeffrey M. Scott, partner with Archer & Greiner, has suggested that it might be premature to draw any definite conclusions right now but noted that the newly released guidelines could potentially serve as a new industry standard. He also suggested that this could possibly instigate claims of disparate treatment or discrimination under New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination or under existing federal law. For more details on this development, refer to the original news here.