Sponsored by:
Assemblyman VINCENT PRIETO
District 32 (Bergen and Hudson)
Assemblywoman MILA M. JASEY
District 27 (Essex and Morris)
Assemblyman GORDON M. JOHNSON
District 37 (Bergen)
Assemblywoman MARLENE CARIDE
District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblywoman GABRIELA M. MOSQUERA
District 4 (Camden and Gloucester)
Assemblyman DAVID P. RIBLE
District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Watson Coleman, Assemblymen Caputo, Singleton and McKeon
SYNOPSIS
Provides additional State school aid to county vocational school districts in which enrollment increases by more than 10%.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning State school aid to certain county vocational school districts and supplementing P.L.2007, c.260 (C.18A:7F-43 et al.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Vocational education expansion aid shall be available when a county vocational school district anticipates that the district’s resident enrollment in the budget year will increase by more than 10% relative to the prebudget year. The commissioner shall develop an application process by which a county vocational school district may demonstrate its plans to increase its student population.
b. Vocational education expansion aid shall be calculated as follows in the first school year after the approval of an application by the commissioner:
VEEA = (PHENR – HENR) x BPA x HW x CVW x GCA
where
PHENR is the projected resident enrollment for grades 9-12 in the county vocational school district for the budget year, as approved by the commissioner;
HENR is the resident enrollment for grades 9-12 in the county vocational school district for the prebudget year;
BPA is the base per pupil amount;
HW is the weight for high school enrollment;
CVW is the weight for county vocational school district enrollment; and
GCA is the geographic cost adjustment.
In each subsequent school year, the county vocational school district shall receive vocational education expansion aid in an amount equal to the amount of vocational education expansion aid received in the prebudget year, less any increase in equalization aid between the prebudget year and the budget year, except that the commissioner may withhold the payment of vocational education expansion aid if the actual resident enrollment in the county vocational school district is significantly less than the projected resident enrollment in the district’s application.
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first be applicable to the first full school year beginning after the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill provides that a county vocational school district may apply to the Commissioner of Education for vocational education expansion aid if the district plans to increase its resident enrollment by more than 10 percent over the prior school year. In the first school year after successfully applying to the commissioner to receive the aid, a county vocational school district’s aid would be calculated by multiplying the projected increase in the district’s resident enrollment by the base per pupil amount, the weight for high school enrollment, the weight for county vocational school district enrollment, and the geographic cost adjustment for the county.
In subsequent school years, the district would receive vocational education expansion aid in an amount equal to the amount received in the prior school year, less any increase in equalization aid. However, the commissioner may withhold payment of this aid if the district’s actual resident enrollment is significantly less than the amount projected in the district’s application.