ASSEMBLY STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
ASSEMBLY, No. 4854
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: APRIL 10, 2025
The Assembly State and Local Government Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 4854.
As amended, this bill modifies the laws governing the allocation of State aid for auxiliary services and remedial services to nonpublic school students.
The amended bill specifically requires the Commissioner of Education to establish a process by which school districts are to be reimbursed for costs that are incurred to provide auxiliary and remedial services for eligible nonpublic school students. Pursuant to the amended bill, school districts are to be reimbursed for costs within the limits of applicable maximum per service aid amounts, as established by the commissioner. The maximum per service aid amounts established by the commissioner are to be based on projected estimates, for the upcoming school year, of the number of: services to be provided; students eligible for each service; and the costs to provide the services. The estimates used by the commissioner to establish the maximum per service aid amounts are to be based on trends from recent school years in the number of services provided, eligible students, and service costs. The method by which the commissioner establishes the maximum per service aid amounts is required to ensure that, to the greatest extent possible, the amounts annually appropriated for auxiliary services and remedial services are fully exhausted by the end of the school year for which the maximum amounts are established and that the amounts appropriated are equitably distributed among school districts applying for reimbursement. To the extent permitted by federal law, the commissioner may establish limits on the duration and frequency of certain auxiliary and remedial services in order to ensure that the greatest number of eligible students are provided services throughout the school year and that, to the greatest extent possible, the amount annually appropriated for the services is available to reimburse school districts during the entirety of the school year.
The reimbursement process to be implemented by the commissioner pursuant to the amended bill is to permit school districts to apply quarterly for reimbursement payments. The details of the reimbursement process are to be annually announced on July 15 of the school year, and districts can begin submitting for reimbursement on September 1. Reimbursements are to be made to school districts throughout the school year until the full amount annually appropriated as State aid for nonpublic school auxiliary and remedial services has been fully expended.
School districts seeking reimbursement under the amended bill are to submit applications on a quarterly basis and adhere to all established submission guidelines, accounting and budgeting guidance, documentation requirements, and defined timelines for reimbursement.
In order to ensure the full reimbursement of eligible costs, the bill also removes provisions of law setting forth the calculation of both categories of aid. Under current law, State aid allotments for an upcoming school year are calculated by multiplying the applicable per pupil service cost by the number of students who were previously identified as eligible to receive each service.
The bill also removes sections of current law that: 1) require school districts to refund unexpended State aid for nonpublic auxiliary and remedial services; and 2) require the commissioner to prorate State nonpublic auxiliary and remedial services aid amounts downward, in the event that the amount of State aid appropriated for those purposes is insufficient.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:
The committee amended the bill to:
· require the method by which the Commissioner of Education establishes maximum per service aid amounts to ensure that the amounts appropriated for nonpublic auxiliary and remedial services are equitably distributed among school districts applying for reimbursement;
· permit the commissioner to establish limits on the duration and frequency of certain auxiliary and remedial services, to the extent permitted by federal law, in order to ensure that the greatest number of eligible students are provided the services throughout the school year and that, to the greatest extent possible, the amount annually appropriated for the services is available to reimburse school districts during the entirety of the school year;
· provide that the reimbursement processes established by the bill are to permit school districts to apply for reimbursement payments on a quarterly, rather than monthly, basis; and
· make a technical correction to clarify that the commissioner is to notify school districts and nonpublic schools of the details concerning the reimbursement processes established by the bill no later than July 15 of each school year, as opposed to July 15 prior to the beginning of the school year; and
· clarify that a school district is not required to make expenditures for the provision of an auxiliary service in excess of the per service aid amount that would be established by the commissioner pursuant to the bill.