A 824 New Jersey General Assembly · 2026-2027 Regular Session

Establishes Elementary Home Reading Grant Program; appropriates $500,000 to DOE from federal funds.

This bill establishes New Jersey's Elementary Home Reading Grant Program to improve reading proficiency among elementary students. It appropriates $500,000 in federal pandemic relief funds to provide grants to school districts partnering with nonprofits, requiring weekly book mailings to students' homes, multilingual parent engagement communications, and student-chosen book collections (6-9 books annually). School districts must submit competitive applications detailing how their programs meet specific criteria, including data tracking on parental engagement and reading progress. The program mandates annual data reporting to the state and requires districts to match grant funds at 100% per student.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Jan 13, 2026
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Jan 13, 2026
Introduced
Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Gerry Scharfenberger
Gerry Scharfenberger
RRepublican
NJ
13