Since Fall 2024, New Jersey law has required all public schools to provide free menstrual products, tampons and pads, in student bathrooms for students in grades 6 through 12.
The cost is fully reimbursed by the NJ Department of Education, meaning there is no net expense to schools or districts. This is a meaningful step forward for menstrual equity, and we are proud to have been part of the advocacy team that helped make it happen.
But a law on the books and a program that actually works for students are two different things.
In our work delivering menstrual health education in schools across New Jersey, and in conversations with school administrators and nurses statewide, we are seeing a troubling pattern.
Many schools have placed products in dispensers and checked the compliance box, but the job isn’t done. Dispensers have run empty and stayed that way. Students have encountered products that are uncomfortable or poorly sized for younger bodies, leading to frustration and, in some cases, acting out. And school nurses, trying to do right by students, have continued stocking higher-quality products in their offices, which means students are leaving class to visit the nurse rather than simply using what’s available in the bathroom.
Everyone means well. The result, however, is that the program isn’t delivering on its promise.
Getting this right requires three things: considering students in product selection from the start, communicating clearly with students, families, and staff about what’s available and where, and building a restocking system that treats menstrual products with the same operational priority as toilet paper. Because that’s exactly what they are, a basic necessity, not an afterthought.
We’ve put together a detailed, practical resource for school staff and administrators.Our Guide to Successfully Implementing Free Menstrual Products in Schools walks through exactly how to do this well.
Please share it with anyone in your school community who can put it to use, in New Jersey and beyond.
New Jersey’s students deserve more than technical compliance. They deserve a program that actually works.