ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 5327

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MARCH 23, 2023

      The Assembly Appropriations Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 5327.

            The amended bill requires payment of tuition for certain nonresident public school students. The bill clarifies that any nonresident student in a school district is required to pay tuition as prescribed by the board of education.

      The amended bill requires each board of education, with the approval of the executive county superintendent, to establish a uniform tuition amount for any nonresident student admitted to the schools of a district.

      Additionally, the amended bill clarifies that the bill’s provisions do not apply to the enrolled children of teaching staff members of a school district who are permitted, by contract or local district policy, to enroll their children in the educational program of the school district without payment of tuition.

      The amended bill further clarifies that the bill’s provisions do not apply to county vocational school districts. Consequently, the references in the bill to county vocational school districts have been removed.

      As reported by the committee, Assembly Bill No. 5327 is identical to Senate Bill No. 3349 (2R), which also was reported by the committee on this date.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to remove references to county vocational school districts and to provide that the provisions of the bill do not apply to county vocational school districts.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) determines that this bill will lead to an annual revenue increase for local school districts to the extent that tuition would be paid by the parents or guardians of nonresident students admitted to the school district, and to the extent that school districts do not already require the payment of tuition for nonresident students. The bill stipulates that county vocational school districts would not be subject to the provisions of the bill, so these districts would not receive any tuition revenue increases as a result of the bill.

      The OLS estimates that districts that do receive a tuition revenue increase under the bill would see a per pupil average revenue increase of $20,000 per year. This per pupil figure is generally based on information included in the most recent version of the Department of Education’s Taxpayers’ Guide to Education Spending concerning the actual budgetary per pupil cost in the 2020-2021 school year.