1523. COMPREHENSIVE EQUITY PLAN (M) 
The Board of Education shall complete a Comprehensive Equity Plan (CEP) that includes a cohesive set of policies, programs, and practices that ensure high expectations and positive achievement patterns and equitable access to educational opportunities for all learners, including students and teachers, in accordance with the provisions of N.J.A.C. 6A:7-1.8. 
The Board’s obligation to be accountable for the requirements in N.J.A.C. 6A:7 is not precluded or alleviated by any rule or regulation of any recreational organization, club, athletic association, or other league or organizing group. 
Pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:7-1.4(c), the district shall develop, once every three years, a CEP that shall identify and correct all discriminatory and inequitable educational policies, patterns, programs, and practices affecting its facilities, programs, students, and staff. 
1.     	Prior to developing the CEP, the district shall 		assess its needs for achieving equity in 			educational activities and programs pursuant to 		N.J.A.C. 6A:7-1.4(c)1.  The needs assessment 		shall identify discriminatory practices and other 		barriers to achieving equity in educational 			activities and programs, if applicable.
 
2.     	The CEP shall address:
 
a.     	Professional development, pursuant to 		N.J.A.C.  6A:7-1.6; and
 
b.     	Equity in school and classroom practices, 		educational activities, and programs 			pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:7-1.7.
 
3.     	The CEP shall include measurable and 			actionable goals, objectives, timelines, and 			benchmarks for measuring progress.

4.     	The Board shall submit the CEP to the Executive 		County Superintendent for confirmation of 			completion.

	a.     	If the Executive County Superintendent 			determines that the CEP is not complete, 			the Board shall revise the   plan in 				accordance with the Executive County 			Superintendent's instructions and shall 			submit to the Executive County 				Superintendent the revised plan within 			thirty days of the notification of 				incompletion. 
Pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:7-1.8(c), the CEP shall include the following: 
1.     	An assessment of the school district’s needs for 		achieving equity in educational activities and 		programs.  The assessment shall include 			staffing practices; quality-of-program data;     		stakeholder-satisfaction data; and student 			assessment data disaggregated by gender; race; 		ethnicity; multilingual learner status; homeless 		status; special education; migrant; date of 			enrollment; student suspension; expulsion; Child 		Study Team referrals; preschool through grade 		twelve promotion/retention data; preschool through 		grade twelve completion rates; attendance data; 		and re-examination and re-evaluation of 			classification and placement process of students in 		special education programs if there is 			disproportionality within certain groups;
 
2.     	A description of how other Federal, State, and 		district policies, programs, and practices are aligned 	to the CEP;
 
3.     	Progress targets for closing the achievement and 		opportunity gaps;
 
4.     	Professional development targets regarding the 		knowledge and skills needed to provide a thorough 		and efficient education as defined by the New 		Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS), 		differentiated instruction and formative assessments 	aligned to the 	NJSLS, and professional standards 		for teachers and school leaders; and

5.     	Annual targets that address district needs in equity 		in school and classroom practices and are aligned to 	professional development targets. 
The Board shall implement the CEP within sixty days of the Executive County Superintendent’s certification of completion. 
If the Board does not implement the CEP within sixty days of the Executive County Superintendent’s certification of completion date, or fails to report its progress annually, sanctions deemed to be appropriate by the Commissioner of Education or designee shall be imposed, and may include action to suspend, terminate, or refuse to award continued Federal or State financial assistance, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:55-2.
N.J.A.C. 6A:7-1.1; 6A:7-1.3; 6A:7-1.4; 6A:7-1.7; 6A:7-1.8

Date Adopted: March 25, 1996
Date Revised: March 7, 2005, March 28, 2011, February 21, 2017, April 30, 2024