Expands category of nonresident children who school district may enroll without payment of tuition.

A4747

ASSEMBLY, No. 4747

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MARCH 19, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman� MITCHELLE DRULIS

District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)

SYNOPSIS

���� Expands category of nonresident children who school
district may enroll without payment of tuition.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning public school tuition and amending
P.L.2007, c.260
and
N.J.S.18A:38-3.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� Section 3 of P.L.2007,
c.260 (C.18A:7F-45) is amended to read as follows:

���� 3.��� As used in P.L.2007,
c.260 (C.18A:7F-43 et al.) and P.L.1996, c.138 (C.18A:7F-1 et al.), unless the
context clearly requires a different meaning:

���� "At-risk pupils"
means those resident pupils from households with a household income at or below
the most recent federal poverty guidelines available on October 15 of the
prebudget year multiplied by 1.85;

���� "Base per pupil
amount" means the cost per elementary pupil of delivering the core
curriculum content standards and extracurricular and cocurricular activities
necessary for a thorough and efficient education;

���� "Bilingual education
pupil" means a resident pupil enrolled in a program of bilingual education
or in an English as a second language program approved by the State Board of
Education;

���� "Budgeted local
share" means the district's local tax levy contained in the budget
certified for taxation purposes;

���� "Capital outlay"
means capital outlay as defined in GAAP;

���� "Combination pupil"
means a resident pupil who is both an at-risk pupil and a bilingual education
pupil;

���� "Commissioner" means
the Commissioner of Education;

���� "Concentration of at-risk
pupils" shall be based on prebudget year pupil data and means, for a
school district or a county vocational school district, the number of at-risk
pupils among those counted in resident enrollment, divided by resident enrollment;

���� "County special services
school district" means any entity established pursuant to article 8 of
chapter 46 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes;

���� "County vocational school
district" means any entity established pursuant to article 3 of chapter 54
of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes;

���� "CPI" means the
increase, expressed as a decimal, in the average annualized consumer price
index for the New York City and Philadelphia areas in the fiscal year preceding
the prebudget year relative to the previous fiscal year as reported by the
United States Department of Labor;

���� "Debt service" means
payments of principal and interest upon school bonds and other obligations
issued to finance the purchase or construction of school facilities, additions
to school facilities, or the reconstruction, remodeling, alteration, modernization,
renovation or repair of school facilities, including furnishings, equipment,
architect fees, and the costs of issuance of such obligations and shall include
payments of principal and interest upon bonds heretofore issued to fund or
refund such obligations, and upon municipal bonds and other obligations which
the commissioner approves as having been issued for such purposes;

���� "District income"
means the aggregate income of the residents of the taxing district or taxing
districts, based upon data provided by the Division of Taxation in the New
Jersey Department of the Treasury and contained on the New Jersey State Income
Tax forms for the calendar year ending two years prior to the prebudget year.�
The commissioner may supplement data contained on the State Income Tax forms
with data available from other State or federal agencies in order to better
correlate the data to that collected on the federal census.� With respect to
regional districts and their constituent districts, however, the district
income as described above shall be allocated among the regional and constituent
districts in proportion to the number of pupils resident in each of them;

���� "Equalized
valuation" means the equalized valuation of the taxing district or taxing
districts, as certified by the Director of the Division of Taxation on October
1, or subsequently revised by the tax court by January 15, of the prebudget
year.� With respect to regional districts and their constituent districts,
however, the equalized valuations as described above shall be allocated among
the regional and constituent districts in proportion to the number of pupils
resident in each of them. In the event that the equalized table certified by
the director shall be revised by the tax court after January 15 of the
prebudget year, the revised valuations shall be used in the recomputation of
aid for an individual school district filing an appeal, but shall have no
effect upon the calculation of the property value rate, Statewide average
equalized school tax rate, or Statewide equalized total tax rate;

���� "Full-day preschool"
means a preschool day consisting of a minimum six-hour comprehensive
educational program in accordance with the district's kindergarten through
grade 12 school calendar;

���� "GAAP" means the
generally accepted accounting principles established by the Governmental
Accounting Standards Board as prescribed by the State board pursuant to
N.J.S.18A:4-14;

���� "General special
education services pupil" means a pupil receiving specific services
pursuant to chapter 46 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes;

���� "Geographic cost
adjustment" means an adjustment that reflects county differences in the
cost of providing educational services that are outside the control of the
district;

���� "Household income"
means income as defined in 7 CFR ss.245.2 and 245.6 or any subsequent
superseding federal law or regulation;

���� "Net budget" means
the sum of the district's general fund tax levy, State aid received pursuant to
the provisions of this act other than preschool education aid, miscellaneous
revenue estimated pursuant to GAAP, and designated general fund balance;

���� "Nonpreschool ECPA"
means the amount of early childhood program aid, excluding prior year
carry-forward amounts, included in a district's 2007-2008 school year budget
certified for taxes that was allocated to grades K through 3;

���� "Prebudget year"
means the school fiscal year preceding the year in which the school budget is
implemented;

���� "Preschool expansion
grant" means any grant funded by a portion of preschool education aid
allocated by the Commissioner of Education or any other State funds
appropriated for the purpose of expanding free access to high-quality preschool
for resident three- and four-year old children in districts that do not, at the
time of application for a grant, provide State-funded, high-quality, free
preschool programs;

���� "Report" means the
Educational Adequacy Report issued by the commissioner pursuant to section 4 of
this act;

���� "Resident
enrollment" means the number of pupils other than preschool pupils,
post-graduate pupils, and post-secondary vocational pupils who, on the last
school day prior to October 16 of the current school year, are residents of the
district and are enrolled in:� (1) the public schools of the district,
excluding evening schools, (2) another school district, other than a county
vocational school district in the same county on a full-time basis, or a State
college demonstration school or private school to which the district of
residence pays tuition, or (3) a State facility in which they are placed by the
district; or are residents of the district and are:� (1) receiving home
instruction, or (2) in a shared-time vocational program and are regularly
attending a school in the district and a county vocational school district. In
addition, resident enrollment shall include the number of pupils who, on the
last school day prior to October 16 of the prebudget year, are residents of the
district and in a State facility in which they were placed by the State.�
Pupils in a shared-time vocational program shall be counted on an equated
full-time basis in accordance with procedures to be established by the
commissioner.� Resident enrollment shall include regardless of nonresidence,
the enrolled children of
[
teaching
staff members
]

employees
of the school district or county vocational school district
who are permitted, by contract or local district policy, to enroll their
children in the educational program of the school district or county vocational
school district without payment of tuition.� Disabled children between three
and five years of age and receiving programs and services pursuant to
N.J.S.18A:46-6 shall be included in the resident enrollment of the district;

���� "School district"
means any local or regional school district established pursuant to chapter 8
or chapter 13 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes;

���� "State facility"
means a State developmental center, a State Division of Youth and Family
Services' residential center, a State residential mental health center, a
Department of Children and Families Regional Day School, a State training
school/secure care facility, a State juvenile community program, a juvenile
detention center or a boot camp under the supervisional authority of the Youth
Justice Commission pursuant to P.L.1995, c.284 (C.52:17B-169 et seq.), or an
institution operated by or under contract with the Department of Corrections,
Children and Families or Human Services, or the Youth Justice Commission;

���� "Statewide equalized
school tax rate" means the amount calculated by dividing the general fund
tax levy for all school districts, which excludes county vocational school
districts and county special services school districts as defined pursuant to
this section, in the State for the prebudget year by the equalized valuations
certified in the year prior to the prebudget year of all taxing districts in
the State except taxing districts for which there are not school tax levies;

���� "Tax levy growth
limitation" means the permitted annual increase in the adjusted tax levy
for a school district as calculated pursuant to sections 3 and 4 of P.L.2007,
c.62 (C.18A:7F-38 and 18A:7F-39).

(cf: P.L.2025, c.100, s.4)

���� 2.��� N.J.S.18A:38-3 is
amended to read as follows:

���� 18A:38-3. a. Any person not
resident in a school district, if eligible except for residence, may be
admitted to the schools of the district with the consent of the board of
education upon such terms, and with payment of tuition, as the board
prescribes.� Each board of education, with the approval of the executive county
superintendent, shall establish a uniform tuition amount for any nonresident
student admitted to the schools of a district pursuant to this section.

���� b.��� Any person not resident
in a school district, if eligible except for residence, and if that person
previously was a resident of the district, shall be admitted to the schools of
the district without payment of tuition if that person's parent or guardian is
a member of the New Jersey National Guard or a member of the reserve component
of the armed forces of the United States and has been ordered into active
military service in any of the armed forces of the United States in time of war
or national emergency, resulting in the relocation of the student out of the
district.� A school district admitting a student pursuant to this subsection
shall not be obligated for transportation costs.

���� c.���� The provisions of
subsection a. of this section shall not apply, regardless of residence, to the
enrolled children of
[
teaching
staff members
]

employees
of the school district who are permitted, by contract or local
district policy, to enroll their children in the educational program of the
school district without payment of tuition.

���� d.��� Nothing in this section
shall limit a school district's ability to charge tuition pursuant to any other
federal law, State statute, regulation, or court order.

���� e.���� The provisions of this
section shall not apply to a county vocational school district.

(cf: P.L.2023, c.61, s.1)

���� 3.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill provides that school
districts may enroll nonresident children of all school district employees, who
are permitted by contract or local district policy, without the payment of
tuition.�

���� Under current law, a school
district is permitted to enroll nonresident children of teaching staff members
of the school district without payment of tuition.� A teaching staff member is
defined by law as an employee of the district who holds a position requiring
the employee to hold a valid and effective standard, provisional, or emergency
certificate issued by the State Board of Examiners.

���� This bill also updates the
definition of resident enrollment for purposes of State school aid to include,
regardless of nonresidence, children of all school district employees
permitted, by contract or local district policy, to enroll their children in the
educational program of the school district without payment of tuition.