---
type: "Bill"
title: "Requires DOE to establish working group on student literacy; mandates universal literacy screenings for kindergarten through grade three students; requires professional development for certain school district employees.*"
description: "Requires DOE to establish working group on student literacy; mandates universal literacy screenings for kindergarten through grade three students; requires professional development for certain school district employees.*"
jurisdiction: "us/states/nj"
legislature: "New Jersey Legislature"
session: "221"
identifier: "S 2644"
citation: "New Jersey S 2644 (221)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["CURRICULA", "SCH BOARDS"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Gopal, Vin", "Lampitt, Pamela R.", "Morales, Carmen Theresa", "Pintor Marin, Eliana", "Quijano, Annette", "Ruiz, M. Teresa"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 9
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2024-02-08T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2024-08-13T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/7cb27020-e2ad-4ac4-8716-c4da16ca287c"
source_url: "https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/leg-databases/"
source_hash: "6ada4bc2967033081927184abba3bd6ced0f311380b440b5f34345802caf1b4d"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-nj"]
---

# New Jersey S 2644 (221) — Requires DOE to establish working group on student literacy; mandates universal literacy screenings for kindergarten through grade three students; requires professional development for certain school district employees.*

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/Bills/2024/S3000/2644_I1.HTM)
2. **Senate Committee Substitute SED 6/20/24 S2645 S2646 SCS** (committee substitute) — [source](https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/Bills/2024/S3000/2644_U1.HTM)

## Votes

- 3RDG FINAL PASSAGE — **72–0** (pass) · lower
- 3RDG FINAL PASSAGE — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported favorably out of committee — **12–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported out of Senate committee as a substitute — **5–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Gopal, Vin — primary (person)
- Lampitt, Pamela R. — primary (person)
- Morales, Carmen Theresa — primary (person)
- Pintor Marin, Eliana — primary (person)
- Quijano, Annette — primary (person)
- Ruiz, M. Teresa — primary (person)
- Bagolie, Rosaura — cosponsor (person)
- Burgess, Renee C. — cosponsor (person)
- Flynn, Victoria A. — cosponsor (person)
- Katz, Andrea — cosponsor (person)
- Lopez, Yvonne — cosponsor (person)
- McKnight, Angela V. — cosponsor (person)
- Miller, Cody D. — cosponsor (person)
- Moriarty, Paul D. — cosponsor (person)
- Murphy, Carol A. — cosponsor (person)
- Reynolds-Jackson, Verlina — cosponsor (person)
- Rodriguez, Gabriel — cosponsor (person)
- Singleton, Troy — cosponsor (person)
- Speight, Shanique — cosponsor (person)
- Swain, Lisa — cosponsor (person)
- Testa, Michael L. — cosponsor (person)
- Tully, Chris — cosponsor (person)
- Turner, Shirley K. — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2024-02-08T05:00:00+00:00** Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2024-06-20T04:00:00+00:00** Reported from Senate Committee as a Substitute, 2nd Reading
- **2024-06-20T04:00:00+00:00** Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee `referral-committee`
- **2024-06-24T04:00:00+00:00** Reported out of Senate Committee, 2nd Reading `committee-passage`
- **2024-06-28T04:00:00+00:00** Passed Senate (39-0) `passage`
- **2024-06-28T04:00:00+00:00** Received in the Assembly without Reference, 2nd Reading
- **2024-06-28T04:00:00+00:00** Substituted for A4303/4304/4308 (ACS)
- **2024-06-28T04:00:00+00:00** Passed Assembly (Passed Both Houses) (72-0-0) `passage`
- **2024-08-13T04:00:00+00:00** Approved P.L.2024, c.52. `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/7cb27020-e2ad-4ac4-8716-c4da16ca287c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official New Jersey legislature records).