Bill Text: NJ A749 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Allows students eligible for kindergarten enrollment in the subsequent school year to enroll in a choice district without prior enrollment in the sending district.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-01-12 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee [A749 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-A749-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
214th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2010 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JOHN DIMAIO
District 23 (Warren and Hunterdon)
SYNOPSIS
Allows students eligible for kindergarten enrollment in the subsequent school year to enroll in a choice district without prior enrollment in the sending district.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning the enrollment of certain pupils in the Interdistrict Public School Choice Program and amending P.L.1999, c.413.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 6 of P.L1999, c.413 (C.18A:36B-7) is amended to read as follows:
6. a. The parents or guardian of a student shall notify the sending district of the student's intention to participate in the choice program and shall submit an application to the choice district, indicating the school the student wishes to attend, no later than the date specified by the commissioner. To be eligible to participate in the program, a student shall be enrolled at the time of application in grades K through 9 in a school of the sending district and have attended school in the sending district for at least one full year immediately preceding enrollment in the choice district. In the case of a student who is eligible to enroll in kindergarten in the sending district in the subsequent school year, the student shall be eligible to submit an application to participate in the choice program and shall not be required to have attended school in the sending district preceding enrollment in the choice district. Openings in a designated school of a choice district shall be on a space available basis, and if more applications are received for a designated school than there are spaces available, a lottery shall be held to determine the selection of students. Preference for enrollment may be given to siblings of students who are enrolled in a designated school.
b. A choice district may evaluate a prospective student on reasonable criteria, including the student's interest in the program offered by a designated school. The district shall not discriminate in its admission policies or practices on the basis of athletic ability, intellectual aptitude, English language proficiency, status as a handicapped person, or any other basis prohibited by State or federal law.
c. A choice district shall not prohibit the enrollment of a student based upon a determination that the additional cost of educating the student would exceed the amount of additional State aid received as a result of the student's enrollment. A choice district may reject the application for enrollment of a student who has been classified as eligible for special education services pursuant to chapter 46 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes if that student's individualized education program could not be implemented in the district, or if the enrollment of that student would require the district to fundamentally alter the nature of its educational program, or would create an undue financial or administrative burden on the district.
d. A student whose application is rejected by a choice district shall be provided with a reason for the rejection in the letter of notice. The appeal of a rejection notice may be made to the commissioner.
e. Once a student is enrolled in a designated school, the student shall not be required to reapply for each school year and shall continue to be enrolled until graduation. A student shall be permitted to transfer back to a school of the sending district or may apply to a different choice district during the next application period.
f. A choice district shall accept all of the credits earned toward graduation by a student in the schools of the sending district.
g. A choice district shall notify a sending district upon the enrollment of a choice student resident in that district.
(cf: P.L.1999, c.413, s.6)
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first apply to enrollment in a choice district for the 2004-2005 school year.
STATEMENT
Under current law, in order to make application to attend school in a choice district under the "Interdistrict Public School Choice Program," a student must be enrolled at the time of application in grades kindergarten through 9 in a school of the sending district for at least one full year immediately preceding enrollment in the choice district. This bill establishes an exclusion to the above requirement for a child who would be eligible to enroll in kindergarten in the subsequent school year.
Under the bill's provisions, in the case of a student who is eligible to enroll in kindergarten in the sending district in the subsequent school year, the student will be eligible to submit an application to participate in the choice program and will not be required to have attended school in the sending district preceding enrollment in the choice district.
