Site provides information and resources to address gang issues and concerns.

Document addresses mandatory gang awareness training for school administrators.

The Legislature finds and declares that many educators believe that school dress can significantly influence pupil behavior and that schools that have adopted dress codes, including dress codes which require school uniforms and which prohibit clothing indicating membership in certain gangs, experience greater school pride and improved behavior in and out of the classroom. The Legislature further finds that to assist in controlling the environment in public schools, to facilitate and maintain an effective learning environment, and to keep the focus of the classroom on learning, school districts should be specifically authorized to implement uniform clothing requirements for their students.

A board of education may adopt a dress code policy to prohibit students from wearing, while on school property, any type of clothing, apparel or accessory which indicates that the student has membership in, or affiliation with, any gang associated with criminal activities. The local law enforcement agency shall advise the board, upon its request, of gangs which are associated with criminal activities.

1a. There is established in the Department of Education the New Jersey School Safety Specialist Academy. It shall be the purpose of the academy to serve as a central repository for best practices, training Standard, and compliance oversight in all matters regarding school safety and security, including prevention efforts, intervention efforts, and emergency preparedness planning. The academy shall: provide, free of charge, ongoing professional development on national and State best practices, as well as the most current resources on school safety and security; assume a lead role in setting the vision for school safety and security in the State; and provide a coordinated and interdisciplinary approach to providing technical assistance and guidance to schools throughout the State. b. The academy shall develop and implement a School Safety Specialist Certification Program. A school safety specialist appointed pursuant to section 2 [C.18A:17-43.3] of this act shall be required to acquire the certification. The certification program shall provide training, free of charge, to newly-appointed school safety specialists in the areas of bullying, hazing, truancy, Internet safety, emergency planning, emergency drills, drugs, weapons, gangs and school policing, and any other areas deemed necessary by the academy. The academy shall also offer annual training sessions for certified school safety specialists. The academy shall develop training modules in both traditional and online formats.

1. Each board of education that operates an educational program for elementary school students shall offer instruction in gang violence prevention and in ways to avoid membership in gangs. The instruction shall take place as part of the district’s implementation of the Core Curriculum Content Standard in Comprehensive Health and Physical Education, and the comprehensive health and physical education curriculum framework shall provide school districts with sample materials that may be used to support implementation of the instructional requirement.

a. The Attorney General shall develop and maintain, in coordination with the Commissioner of Education, a gang education seminar program to educate public and nonpublic school administrators on how to recognize signs of gang involvement or activity. A seminar shall be offered annually in each county and shall be held in the office of the county superintendent of schools or such other facility as the Attorney General or Commissioner of Education shall designate. b. A superintendent, assistant superintendent, principal or other administrator employed by a public school district shall attend a gang education seminar offered pursuant to this section within the first year of initial employment as an administrator with a public school district. An administrator employed by a school district prior to the effective date [Oct.12, 2007] of this act shall attend the first seminar offered in the county subsequent to its enactment. A superintendent, assistant superintendent, principal or other administrator shall be exempt from the requirements of this section if that person has successfully completed a gang education seminar conducted by a public school district which is substantially equivalent to the seminar required pursuant to this section. c. A gang education seminar offered pursuant to this section shall be open to all public and nonpublic school administrators.

Document addresses gang violence prevention as a component of K-12 health education.

Document addresses violence prevention programs.