Commissioner’s Annual Report to the Education Committee of the Senate and General Assembly - Student Safety and Discipline in New Jersey Public Schools - School Year 2023-24

Oct 15, 2026

Commissioner’s Annual Report to the Education Committee of the Senate and General Assembly compiles and analyzes New Jersey public school reports on student disciplinary infractions and their consequences for School Year 2023-24. It covers harassment, intimidation and bullying (HIB), substance, vandalism, violence, and weapons, and explains district efforts to reduce HIB through trainings, programs, police notifications, and disciplinary actions. The report also addresses restraint and seclusion following the 2022 statutory amendment and includes crosswalks linking figures across years.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages63

Reading Time2 h 39 min

AccessFree to download

Executive Summary

Introduction

Note for People Using Screen Readers or Text-to-Speech Tools

Incidents Reported

Total Incidents

Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying (HIB), School Responses and District Efforts

HIB Investigations and Confirmed HIB Incidents

Grade Span, Location, Mode, and Effect of Confirmed HIB Incidents

Nature of HIB

Victim’s Characteristics by Nature of HIB

School Responses to HIB Incidents

School Districts’ Efforts to Reduce HIB Incidents

School Responses to Reported Incidents

Police Notifications

Disciplinary Actions

Restraint and Seclusion

Initiatives to Improve School Safety

Appendix A: Crosswalk of Previous Years’ Figures to Current Figures

Appendix B: Crosswalk of Current Figures to Previous Years’ Figures

Appendix C: Tables of Charts

Commissioner’s Annual Report to the Education Committee of the Senate and General Assembly Student Safety and Discipline in New Jersey Public Schools School Year 2023-24 New Jersey Department of Education 100 River View Plaza, P.O. Box 500 Trenton, NJ 08625-0500 State Board of Education | Member | County | | --- | --- | | Kathy Goldenberg
President | Burlington | | Nedd James Johnson,
Ed. D. Vice President | Salem | | Arcelio Aponte | Middlesex | | Mary G. Bennett | Essex | | Mary Beth Berry | Hunterdon | | Elaine Bobrove | Camden | | Ronald K. Butcher, Ph. D. | Gloucester | | Jack Fornaro | Warren | | Claudine Keenan, Ed. D. | Atlantic | | Jeanette Peña | Hudson | | Joseph Ricca, Jr., Ed.D. | Morris | | Ahmed Shehata | Union | Kevin Dehmer, Commissioner Secretary Executive Summary ................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 2 Note for People Using Screen Readers or Text-to-Speech Tools ........................................... 2 Incidents Reported .................................................................................................................... 3 Total Incidents....................................................................................................................... 3 Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying (HIB), School Responses and District Efforts.............. 14 HIB Investigations and Confirmed HIB Incidents ................................................................. 14 Grade Span, Location, Mode, and Effect of Confirmed HIB Incidents ................................. 15 Nature of HIB ...................................................................................................................... 18 Victim’s Characteristics by Nature of HIB ............................................................................ 20 School Responses to HIB Incidents ...................................................................................... 22 School Districts’ Efforts to Reduce HIB Incidents ................................................................ 25 School Responses to Reported Incidents ................................................................................ 29 Police Notifications ............................................................................................................. 29 Disciplinary Actions ............................................................................................................. 32 Restraint and Seclusion ........................................................................................................... 35 Initiatives to Improve School Safety ........................................................................................ 38 Appendix A: Crosswalk of Previous Years’ Figures to Current Figures .....................................40 Appendix B: Crosswalk of Current Figures to Previous Years’ Figures .....................................44 Appendix C: Tables of Charts...................................................................................................48 Annually, the New Jersey Department of Education (“NJDOE”) collects, analyzes, and reports to the Governor and Legislature on disciplinary infractions and their consequences, as reported by school districts, to meet the requirements of the Public School Safety Law, N.J.S.A. 18A:17-46 through 48. This report includes statewide information on incidents in the categories of harassment, intimidation, and bullying (HIB), substance, vandalism, violence, and weapons. It also outlines school districts’ efforts to reduce HIB through targeted trainings and programs, as well as school districts’ responses to reported incidents, including police notifications and disciplinary action

FAQs

What categories of incidents does the report cover for 2023-24?

The report includes statewide information on incidents in harassment, intimidation and bullying (HIB), substance, vandalism, violence, and weapons.

How do school districts address HIB in response to confirmed incidents?

It outlines school responses to reported incidents, including district efforts to reduce HIB through targeted trainings and programs, plus police notifications and disciplinary actions.

What additional reporting requirement was added in 2022 regarding student safety?

In 2022, the Public School Safety Law was amended to expand the report to include the use of restraint and seclusion.

Oct 15, 2026

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