ASSEMBLY, No. 1199

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

219th LEGISLATURE

 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2020 SESSION

 


 

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman  ANDREW ZWICKER

District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Directs Commissioner of Education to maintain charter school waiting lists for admission.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.

  


An Act concerning charter school waiting lists and supplementing P.L.1995, c.426 (C.18A:36A-1 et seq.).

 

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

 

     1.    a.  The Commissioner of Education shall maintain a waiting list for each charter school in the State for the admission of grade-eligible students that:

     (1)   begins with the close of the annual initial recruitment period and first random selection process and ends with the close of the subsequent school year; and

     (2)   is divided into two groups: students from the charter school district of residence or region of residence and students from non-resident districts. 

     b.    During the recruitment period, a charter school shall notify a parent or guardian that the child shall remain on the waiting list for enrollment for the subsequent school year only.

     c.     Each waiting list shall be made publicly available, upon request. 

     d.    The information required pursuant to subsections a. and b. of this section shall be provided, to the maximum extent feasible, in the native languages of the parents or guardians of the students enrolled in the charter school.

     e.     A charter school shall not maintain its own waiting list for the admission of students. 

 

     2.    This act shall take effect immediately and shall first apply to the first full school year following the date of enactment. 

 

 

STATEMENT

 

     State Board of Education regulations at N.J.A.C.6A:11-4.6 direct each charter school to maintain a waiting list for admission of students. This bill directs the Commissioner of Education to maintain a waiting list for each charter school in the State for the admission of grade-eligible students that:

     (1)   begins with the close of the annual initial recruitment period and first random selection process and ends with the close of the subsequent school year; and

     (2)   is divided into two groups: students from the charter school district of residence or region of residence and students from non-resident districts. 

     The bill provides that during the recruitment period, a charter school must notify a parent or guardian that his child will remain on the waiting list for enrollment for the subsequent school year only.

     The bill requires that each waiting list be made publicly available, upon request.  The information required pursuant to the bill’s provisions must be provided, to the maximum extent feasible, in the native languages of the parents or guardians of the students enrolled in the charter school.

     Finally, the bill prohibits a charter school from maintaining its own waiting list for student admissions.