Bill Text: NJ S2687 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes Choice District Student Openings Grant Program to expand number of student openings in choice districts.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-05-19 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee [S2687 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-S2687-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator EDWARD DURR
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes Choice District Student Openings Grant Program to expand number of student openings in choice districts.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the interdistrict public school choice program and supplementing P.L.2010, c.65 (C.18A:36B-14 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Commissioner of Education shall establish the Choice District Student Openings Grant Program to provide funding and resources to allow approved choice districts to create additional openings to accept students participating in the interdistrict public school choice program. Grants awarded through the program would be used to assist school districts in hiring teachers and staff and procuring the textbooks, course materials, and services, equipment, and technology necessary to accommodate additional students. Grants awarded under the program shall be awarded on a competitive basis and the commissioner may award multiyear grants.
b. An approved choice district that wishes to participate in the grant program shall submit an application to the commissioner in accordance with procedures established by the commissioner. The application shall include:
(1) the number of students enrolled in each grade level;
(2) the number of teachers and staff employed by the district who work directly with students enrolled in each grade level;
(3) the number of current student openings the district has to accommodate choice students for each grade level and the number of projected student openings the district has to accommodate choice students for each grade level over the next two school years;
(4) a description of the ways in which the district is limited in the number of choice students it can accept each school year;
(5) a description of how grant funding will be used to assist the district in creating additional openings for choice students;
(6) an estimate of the number of openings the district will be able to create as a result of grant funding; and
(7) any other information required by the commissioner.
c. The commissioner shall establish selection criteria for the awarding of grants under the program, including consideration of the information provided pursuant to subsection b. of this section. To the maximum extent possible, the commissioner shall select choice districts located in the northern, central, and southern regions of the State. Preference shall be given to those choice districts with the lowest percentage of openings for choice students.
d. The grant program shall be funded through annual State appropriations, private contributions, and any educational assistance provided by the federal government to assist States in administering public school choice programs.
e. A school district selected to receive grant funding pursuant to this section shall submit an annual report to the Commissioner no later than September 1 of each year concerning the use of grant funds during the prior school year. The report shall include, at minimum, information on the number of new openings created for choice students from grant funds, the number of additional students accepted into the district through the interdistrict public school choice program as a result of grant funding, and how grant funding was used.
2. The Commissioner of Education shall submit an annual report by December 31 of each year to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1). The report shall include, but need not be limited to, information on the number of new student openings created in choice districts Statewide, the number of new students who were accepted into choice districts as a result of the grant program, the purposes for which grant funds were used by choice districts to increase student openings, and any recommendations concerning the administration of the program.
3. This act shall take effect on the 90th day following enactment, but the Commissioner of Education may take anticipatory administrative action in advance of the effective date as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes the Choice District Student Openings Grant Program to expand number of student openings in school districts participating in the interdistrict public school choice program. The interdistrict public school choice program is a program administered by the Commissioner of Education that allows parents and guardians to enroll their children in certain school districts, referred to as "choice districts" under the program, outside their district of residence. In order to become a choice district and receive students under the program, the district is required to apply to, and receive approval from, the commissioner. Out of the 686 school districts in the State, only 122 have chosen to participate in the program.
The bill would provide an incentive for more school districts to become choice districts and current choice districts to expand enrollment opportunities for students participating in the program by requiring the Commissioner of Education to create the grant program to provide funding and resources to allow approved choice districts to create additional openings to accept students participating in the program. Grants awarded through the program would be used to assist school districts in hiring teachers and staff and procuring the textbooks, course materials, and services, equipment, and technology necessary to accommodate additional students. Grants awarded under the program would be awarded on a competitive basis and the commissioner may award multiyear grants.
An approved choice district that wishes to participate in the grant program would be required to submit an application to the commissioner in accordance with procedures established by the commissioner. The application would include:
· the number of students enrolled in each grade level;
· the number of teachers and staff employed by the district who work directly with students enrolled in each grade level;
· the number of current student openings the district has to accommodate choice students for each grade level and the number of projected student openings the district has to accommodate choice students for each grade level over the next two school years;
· a description of the ways in which the district is limited in the number of choice students it can accept each school year;
· a description of how grant funding will be used to assist the district in creating additional openings for choice students;
· an estimate of the number of openings the district will be able to create as a result of grant funding; and
· any other information required by the commissioner.
The commissioner would establish selection criteria for the awarding of grants under the program, including consideration of the information provided through district applications. To the maximum extent possible, the commissioner would be required to select choice districts located in the northern, central, and southern regions of the State. Preference would be given to those choice districts with the lowest percentage of openings for choice students.
The grant program would be funded through annual State appropriations, private contributions, and any educational assistance provided by the federal government to assist States in administering public school choice programs. A school district selected to receive grant funding under the bill would submit a report to the Commissioner no later than September 1 of each year concerning the use of grant funds during the prior school year. The report would include, at minimum, information on the number of new openings created for choice students from grant funds, the number of additional students accepted into the district through the interdistrict public school choice program as a result of grant funding, and how grant funding was used.
The Commissioner of Education would
be required to submit an annual report by December 31 of each year to the
Governor and to the Legislature. The report would include, but need not be
limited to, information on the number of new student openings created in choice
districts Statewide, the number of new students who were
accepted into choice districts as a result of the grant program, the purposes
for which grant funds were used by choice districts to increase student
openings, and any recommendations concerning the administration of the program.
