Sponsored by:
Assemblyman PARKER SPACE
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
Assemblyman HAROLD "HAL" J. WIRTHS
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
SYNOPSIS
Extends limit for nonpublic school busing to 30 miles in Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Ocean, Salem, Sussex, and Warren Counties, and requires existing bus stops to be used.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning nonpublic school busing and supplementing chapter 39 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of N.J.S.18A:39-1 to the contrary, if a school district is located in a county of the third class, a county of the sixth class, a county of the second class with a population of less than 275,000 or a population density of less than 600 or a county of the fifth class with a population of less than 600,000, according to the 2000 federal decennial census, transportation shall be provided to a pupil residing in the school district in going to and from a remote school other than a public school, not operated for profit in whole or in part, located within the State not more than 30 miles from the residence of the pupil. If the per pupil cost of the lowest bid received for the transportation exceeds the amount calculated pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1981, c.57 (C.18A:39-1a), the pupil shall receive an in-lieu-of payment in an amount calculated pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1981, c.57 (C.18A:39-1a).
The school district shall require all nonpublic school pupils eligible for transportation pursuant to this subsection to use the bus stops which serve the pupils whose residences are not more than 20 miles from the nonpublic school.
b. Any costs incurred by a school district in providing transportation or an in-lieu-of payment pursuant to the provisions of subsection a. of this section shall be paid by the State.
2. This act shall take effect immediately and first apply to the 2020-2021 school year.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes as part of the permanent law the requirement that transportation services or an in-lieu-of payment be provided to a nonpublic school student if the student lives remote from his nonpublic school of attendance and the nonpublic school is located not more than 30 miles from the student's residence in: a county of the second class with a population of less than 275,000 or a population density of less than 600; a county of the third class; a county of the sixth class; or a county of the fifth class with a population of less than 600,000. This would cover transportation in Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Ocean, Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Salem, Sussex, and Warren Counties. Nonpublic school pupils eligible for transportation pursuant to this bill will be required by the school district to use the bus stops which serve the pupils whose residences are not more than 20 miles from the nonpublic school.
Under the bill, the State will be responsible for any costs incurred by the district in providing transportation or an in-lieu-of payment to these students up to the amount of the statutorily established nonpublic transportation amount.
Under existing law, in order to be eligible for transportation services or an aid-in-lieu-of payment, a nonpublic school student must live remote from his school of attendance (2 miles in the case of an elementary school student and 2 1/2 miles in the case of a high school student) and the nonpublic school may not be more than 20 miles from the student's residence. However, over the past several school years, through language included in the appropriations act, transportation services have been provided to nonpublic school students who reside in six rural counties if the nonpublic school is not more than 30 miles from the student's residence. The six counties that have been included in the appropriations act are Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Salem, Sussex, and Warren.