Proposed Bill Would Provide Funding for Private School Security Measures

St. Dominic School, Brick, N.J. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

Public schools in New Jersey receive $75 per student to go toward security measures to ensure safety during the school day, but private schools receive no such funding – a gap one local lawmaker is trying to close with a bill that would provide funding for student security in private schools.

In the proposal by Assemblymen Sean T. Kean (R-Ocean, Monmouth), private school students would receive one-third of what their public school counterparts receive. The $25 per pupil funding measure would go towards security services, equipment, and technology to “help ensure a safe and secure school environment for nonpublic school children,” Kean said in a statement.

“With new school security procedures and advances in technology, we can provide increased protection that includes all our children,” Kean said.

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Kean himself is a graduate of Red Bank Catholic High School. Brick Township’s largest private school is St. Dominic School on Old Squan Road, which has 528 students enrolled. In neighboring Lakewood, which is included in Kean’s legislative district, 65 private schools serve 17,021 primarily Orthodox Jewish students. Statewide, 1,297 private schools educate 240,555 students, according to Education Bug, a website that tracks school data.