New Jersey mandates organ donation lessons in schools

MILLSTONE — Beginning this school year, every public high school in the state has to teach students about organ and tissue donation in health and physical education classes.

At the Sept. 29 Board of Education meeting, Superintendent of Schools Mary Anne Donahue discussed the New Jersey Hero Act, legislation passed in July 2008 that mandates donor and transplant information in the core curriculum for grades 9- 12.

"No matter what your feeling, the state has mandated that this information be shared with high school students," Donahue said.

Donahue said that most high schools will likely choose to impart information about organ and tissue donation in grades 11-12, when students are getting driver licenses. However, each high school can make up its own schedule for dispersing the information.

Millstone sends its high school students to Allentown High School, so the Upper Freehold Regional School District will oversee the implementation of the initiative.

Board of Education President Thomas Foley said, "With everything else we need to teach in school, did the state provide funding?"

Donahue said the state has not provided funding for the initiative. She said the lessons would likely be incorporated into driver education courses.

New Jersey is the first sate to incorporate mandatory organ donation education into the high school curriculum. The education component of the New Jersey Hero Act also requires institutions of higher education to provide information on New Jersey's organ donor policies either as part of the curriculum or through student health services.

The act states that residents have the right to register as organ and tissue donors upon licensure and renewal of their drivers' licenses, and issuance of state identification cards.

The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission provides an online portal where residents can register as donors, and have their decision immediately integrated into the Donate Life New Jersey Registry, which is maintained by the commission.

The act also mandates, beginning in 2013, that all New Jersey drivers review basic facts about the donation decision and its impact as a condition of obtaining or renewing their license.

As of Sept. 15, there are 103,709 people waiting for a transplant, of which 4,497 are in New Jersey, according to the New Jersey Sharing Network.

For more information about the act, visit www.sharenj.org or call 1-800-SHARENJ.