June 2023

Volume 15 Issue 13

The NJ Safe Schools Program team wants to remind NJ secondary schools to complete and submit the following by the deadline at end of this school year/state fiscal year:

• any incident reports (injury/illness) online, if not already submitted per state code within five business days (see guidance in section II.D below); and,
• if/as applicable, help your school and school district complete the annual Right to Know Survey about chemicals and other hazardous materials used and stored on campus and in buildings (e.g., science labs, printing shops). 

The NJ Safe Schools Program (NJSS) will continue implementing an expanded special grant funded initiative in partnership with the NJ Department of Education-Office of Career Readiness during the 2023-2024 school year. The goal is to provide teachers free work-based learning (WBL or formerly school-sponsored structured learning experiences) supervisory trainings for career and technical education (CTE) and WBL in non-hazardous occupations throughout NJ via targeted recruitment. There will be a special focus on those who will be supervising students in the agriculture career cluster.    

Stay tuned for upcoming application details in our fall e-newsletters.

The regular schedule for work-based learning (WBL, formerly known as Structured Learning Experiences or SLE) trainings for certified teachers only who are applying for a cooperative education coordinator certificate-hazardous occupations, a cooperative education coordinator certificate, or who are appointed to coordinate WBL placements has been released for 2022-2023.

Course costs and registration are now available on our website https://sph.rutgers.edu/njss/required-courses. 

Email: cscbre@sph.rutgers.edu 

Six cohorts will be available for registration, with the first cohort beginning January 2023 and the last cohort ending in December 2023. You must complete the four paid, required work-based learning online courses during the selected cohort’s time period. All trainings will be online, with asynchronous and synchronous parts to each of the four required WBL trainings.

A. Federal Wage & Hour and Child Labor Laws

Online course. This course is hosted on the Rutgers Canvas learning management system (LMS) and takes about 5-6 hours to complete. 

B. New Jersey Wage & Hour/Child Labor Laws 

Online course for 2022-2023. This course has two parts. First, the online course on the Rutgers Canvas learning management system (LMS), then the live session hosted on Rutgers WebEx.

C. OSHA 10 Plus

Online course for 2022-2023. This course has three parts. First, the “OSHA 10 General Industry” online course on CareerSafe, then the NJDOE 2-hour Safety and Health overview on the Rutgers Canvas learning management system (LMS), and lastly the live session hosted on Rutgers WebEx. A memo with additional details will be emailed to participants upon registration.

D. Designing & Implementing Student Training Plans

Online course for 2022-2023. This course has two parts. First, the online course on the Rutgers Canvas learning management system (LMS), including the completion of the mandatory day two field assignment, then the live session hosted on Rutgers WebEx.

Note: In 2022-2023, we are accepting payment by credit card via our registration system, ANCOR. Courses paid by credit card are eligible for a full refund upon cancellation in 2022-2023. There are no refunds for courses paid by personal check or district/school check in advance; however, you may move to another open training date for the same course in the same calendar year. If you must, for a documented reason agreed to by NJ Safe Schools Program, delay completion of course(s), then we strongly suggest a delay of one cohort time period. We will handle specific requests on a case-by-case basis, in consultation with the NJDOE.

The NJ Department of Labor (NJDOL) has established a dedicated customer service phone line and email address for inquiries about the new process for obtaining digital working papers in NJ.

Website: MyWorkingPapers.nj.gov

Phone: 609.659.9047

Email: myworkingpapers@dol.nj.gov

Source: https://nj.gov/labor/youngworkers/find-a-job/working-papers/getstarted.shtml

The NJ Department of Health (NJDOH) is still taking requests for its program making free portable high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration purifiers and filters available to New Jersey K-12 schools and early childhood education centers (ECEs). The goal of the program is to provide layered protection from respiratory illnesses and address other airborne irritants such as dust, mold, pollen, etc. All New Jersey K-12 schools and licensed ECEs are eligible to receive portable HEPA filtration purifiers and up to three corresponding replacement HEPA filters per unit at no-cost from a state-sponsored vendor. NJDOH will review all requests for HEPA purifiers and will make every effort, but cannot guarantee, to fulfill the requested number of HEPA purifiers based on supplies. Placement and location of HEPA air purifiers should be prioritized for classrooms and where medically-fragile students may frequent.

Program materials can be found on the NJDOH Information for Schools webpage.

To express interest, please complete the survey NJDOH K-12 High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) Unit and Filter Program as soon as possible; the survey closes next week.

Please contact COVID.SchoolTesting@doh.nj.gov with any questions about the program or survey.

Project Firstline (PFL) is a national CDC-funded initiative designed to provide innovative and accessible infection prevention and control (IPC) education for all frontline healthcare workers so they can protect their patients, their coworkers, and themselves from infectious disease threats in healthcare. The New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) PFL Team partnered with PFL partners in New York State, Utah, and Wyoming to develop a superhero-themed IPC escape room exercise for frontline healthcare workers and students pursuing careers in the public health, healthcare, and allied health fields. The goal of the Project Firstline Escape Room is to emphasize key IPC practices such as hand hygiene, personal protective equipment, source control, and environmental cleaning and disinfection in a fun, innovative way. This unique educational activity is intended to be done in person and completed in teams of 5-6 people with 30 minutes to “escape.”

The developed manual contains instructions, puzzle pieces, and a list of suggested supplies for healthcare organizations/facilities and academic institutions to easily coordinate the exercise pieces and a list of suggested supplies for healthcare organizations/facilities and academic institutions to coordinate the exercise with ease for their staff, colleagues, and students. To download a free copy of the manual to conduct the PFL Escape Room at your organization, click here. You can also contact the NJDOH PFL Team via the intake form to have the team facilitate the escape room for your organization.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) new Clean School Bus (CSB) Program provides $5 billion over the next five years (FY 2022-2026) to replace existing school buses with zero-emission and low-emission models. States and Territories in Region 2 (NY, NJ, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and 8 Tribal Nations) have been allotted $37,062,100. 

Applicants have two options to apply: 

1. Applicants seeking to serve a single school district can apply through the School District Sub-Program to request a minimum of 15 school buses and up to a maximum of 50 school buses.
2. Applicants seeking to serve at least four school districts can apply through the third-party Sub-program to request between 50 school buses and up to a maximum of 100 school buses. 

Important Dates

April 24, 2023: Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) Opens 

July 26, 2023: Final Date to Submit Questions 

August 22, 2023: NOFO Closes – Application Deadline 

November 2023 to January 2024: Anticipated Notification of Selection 

February to March 2024: Anticipated Awards 

Please feel free to reach out to the Clean School Bus team at cleanschoolbus@epa.gov for more information on the program. You may also reach out to cleanschoolbusTA@nrel.gov with any questions related to charging and infrastructure needs. 

NJ Safe Schools program offers Non-SLE General Occupational Safety and Health Courses for teachers and students. For 2022-2023, we encourage teachers and students to take advantage of these asynchronous, free, ~1.5-3- hour opportunities to augment in-person class and other online activities with your students. They can help meet curricular planning and implementation goals approved by district and school(s). Upon completing online courses, students and teachers receive a certification of completion for each course. Also, teachers will receive professional development units (PDU).

A summer cohort will be taking place through August 4, 2023. If you are interested in enrolling your students and yourself in any of the courses, please email cscbre@sph.rutgers.edu with an Excel spread sheet or Word table containing each student’s first name, last name and school administered (or formally accepted for tracking purposes) email address. 

We have a frequently asked question (FAQ) section on the NJ Safe Schools website. There are over 50 FAQs on the list covering a range of topics in four subcategories pertaining to work-based learning (WBL), previously known in NJ as school sponsored structured learning experiences (SLEs). Questions about SLE supervision eligibility, SLE program set-up, worksite placement considerations, required paperwork and on-site workplace concerns for students in SLEs are included. The list of FAQs was compiled from actual questions submitted by NJ teachers/supervisors. Each of the responses previously appeared in print or electronic newsletters through the NJ Safe Schools Program or the “SLE info share listserv.”

The New Jersey Safe Schools/NJDOE Incident Reporting Form for Career and Technical Education Programs, Cooperative Education Experiences, and Structured Learning Experiences is online.

Schools are required by code (N.J.A.C. 6A:19-6.5) to submit their incident report online. You can download a copy of the newly updated “Guidance Manual for Completing the Incident Reporting Form” on this site. Note: The Guidance Manual was last updated as of December 2018.