Sponsored by:
Senator PAUL A. SARLO
District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)
Senator JOSEPH P. CRYAN
District 20 (Union)
SYNOPSIS
Requires payment of actual cost per pupil for non-resident public school tuition.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning public school tuition and amending N.J.S.18A:38-3.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. N.J.S.18A:38-3 is amended to read as follows:
18A:38-3. a. Any person not resident in a school district, if eligible except for residence, may be admitted to the schools of the district with the consent of the board of education upon [such] terms, and with [or without] payment of tuition equal to the actual cost per pupil, as the board may prescribe.
b. Any person not resident in a school district, if eligible except for residence, and if that person previously was a resident of the district, shall be admitted to the schools of the district without payment of tuition if that person's parent or guardian is a member of the New Jersey National Guard or a member of the reserve component of the armed forces of the United States and has been ordered into active military service in any of the armed forces of the United States in time of war or national emergency, resulting in the relocation of the student out of the district. A school district admitting a student pursuant to this subsection shall not be obligated for transportation costs.
c. A school district under partial or full State intervention pursuant to P.L.2007, c.16 (18A:7A-3 et seq.) shall not admit a student who does not reside in the school district to the schools of the district.
d. The provisions of subsections a. and c. of this section shall not apply, regardless of residence, to the enrolled children of teaching staff members of the school district or county vocational school district who are permitted, by contract or local district policy, to enroll their children in the educational program of the school district or county vocational school district without payment of tuition.
(cf: P.L.1994, c.169, s.2)
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first apply to the first full school year following enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires a board of education to charge non-district residents enrolling in a school district tuition equal to the actual cost per pupil.
Under current law, each board of education may set its own terms regarding the admittance of students who do not reside in the school district, including if tuition is charged and at what amount. This bill amends current law to require a board of education to set non-resident tuition equal to the actual cost per pupil. This bill also provides that a school district subject to partial or full State intervention under the “New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum” may not admit a student who does not reside within the school district to the schools of the district.
Additionally, this bill amends current law to ensure enrolled children of teaching staff members of the school district or county vocational school district who are permitted, by contract or local district policy, to enroll their children in the educational program of the school district or county vocational school district without payment of tuition as established under the “School Funding Reform Act of 2008.”