ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 2942

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  June 24, 2024

      The Assembly Appropriations Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 2942.

As amended, this bill changes the date by which a school district is required to notify the parent or guardian of a nonpublic school student and the nonpublic school, of the district’s determination on the manner in which transportation services will be provided to the pupil.  According to State Board of Education regulations, this notification is to occur by August 1 prior to the beginning of the school year.  The amended bill changes the notification date to July 15.

      The bill also amends a section of law that concerns the use of cooperative transportation services for the provision of pupil transportation and makes reference to the August 1 date.

      Finally, the amended bill specifies that nothing in the bill is to prohibit a school district from, prior to the July 15 notification date, preliminarily informing a nonpublic school and the parent or guardian of a nonpublic school pupil that the costs to provide transportation on a per pupil basis are likely to be greater than the maximum per pupil aid in-lieu-of transportation payment amount for the school year.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to:

· change the date for a school district’s notification to nonpublic schools and the parents or guardians of nonpublic school pupils of the manner in which transportation services will be provided to the pupil, to July 15; and

· provide that nothing in the bill is to be construed to prohibit a school district from, prior to the official notification date specified in the bill, preliminarily informing the nonpublic schools of the district and the parents or guardians of nonpublic school pupils that the costs to provide transportation on a per pupil basis are likely to be greater than the maximum per pupil aid in-lieu-of transportation payment amount for the school year; and

· make technical changes to certain references to “aid in-lieu-of transportation” in current law concerning the use of cooperative transportation services. 

FISCAL IMPACT:

      This bill is not certified as requiring a fiscal note.