LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE

ASSEMBLY, No. 4303

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

221st LEGISLATURE

 

DATED: JUNE 28, 2024

 

 

SUMMARY

 

Synopsis:

Requires school districts to screen certain students for reading deficiencies.

Type of Impact:

Annual State expenditure increase; annual expenditure and revenue increases for school districts.

Agencies Affected:

Department of Education; school districts.

 

 

Office of Legislative Services Estimate

Fiscal Impact

Annual 

 

State Expenditure Increase

Approximately $6.0 million

 

School District Expenditure Increase

Indeterminate

 

School District Revenue Increase

Indeterminate

 

 

 

 

·         The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) concludes that this bill would likely result in an annual expenditure increase of approximately $6.0 million, conditional on the contracts that the Department of Education would enter into for the provision of screening services.

·         The bill would also likely result in costs related to the State reimbursing school districts for the provision of evidenced-based intervention strategies to students exhibiting reading deficiencies.  However, the bill is not specific with respect to the nature of the intervention strategies, and the cost of providing such strategies is consequently unknown.

·         School districts may experience indeterminate expenditure increases and concurrent revenue increases associated with the costs of administering screening tests and providing intervention strategies, which would be reimbursed by the State per the bill.

 

BILL DESCRIPTION

 

      This bill requires the Department of Education to enter into contracts with at least two screening providers that have a reliable and valid reading assessment, which measures phonological awareness, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, and which is able to identify students who have a reading deficiency. School districts would be required to administer these screening tests three times per school year to all students in grades kindergarten through three, and to administer the screening tests to any newly-enrolled student in grades four through 12 as well as any enrolled student at the request of the parent or guardian. A school district would be required to provide evidenced-based intervention strategies to any student exhibiting a reading deficiency as determined by the screening tests.

      The department would be required to provide funds to the school districts to support the cost of administering the screening tests and providing intervention strategies.

 

 

FISCAL ANALYSIS

 

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

 

      None received.

 

OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES

 

      The OLS concludes that this bill would result in an annual expenditure increase for the State of approximately $6.0 million, depending on the contracts that the Department of Education enters into for the provision of screening services.

      Under the bill, screening tests would be administered to students in grades kindergarten through three, and would be administered three times throughout the course of a school year. Based on information published by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts concerning the implementation of literacy screening assessments and the costs of various assessment providers, the OLS assumes an approximate high-end annual cost of $15 per student to administer the screening. Data from the New Jersey Department of Education indicates that, in total, there were 376,644 students enrolled in grades kindergarten through three Statewide in the fall of 2023. Consequently, the OLS estimates a base annual cost of $5.6 million to administer the screening assessments to students in grades kindergarten through three. In addition to these costs, there may be some additional costs to account for staff training and materials, resulting in a total estimate of $6.0 million in additional costs to the State per year.

      However, the OLS notes that the cost to the State is contingent on the contracts entered into by the department and may vary from this estimate depending on the actual cost of the contracts. Under the bill, school districts are also required to screen any newly enrolled students in grades four through 12, and any students for whom the parent or guardian requests a screening. Consequently, costs may be higher depending on the number of additional students that are screened.

      Additionally, the bill requires school districts to provide evidence-based intervention strategies to students that are determined to exhibit a reading deficiency by the screening assessments. While the bill is not specific with respect to the nature of the evidence-based intervention strategies, and the cost of providing such strategies is consequently unknown, the OLS notes for the purposes of illustration that 58.2 percent of students in grade three were not completely meeting grade-level expectations according to the results of the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments in English Language Arts administered in the 2022-2023 school year.

      School districts may experience indeterminate expenditure increases and concurrent revenue increases associated with the costs of administering screening tests and providing evidenced-based intervention strategies, which would be reimbursed by the State.

 

Section:

Education

Analyst:

Abigail Chambers

Associate Fiscal Analyst

Approved:

Thomas Koenig

Legislative Budget and Finance Officer

 

This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.

 

This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).