Bill > S3661

Introduced Session

This bill revises various portions of law establishing the School Regionalization Efficiency Program (SREP), which was enacted as P.L.2021, c.402. The grant program supports public school districts and governing bodies across New Jersey who wish to study the feasibility of school district regionalization and consolidation. Regarding the administering of the grant program, the bill does the following:· provides that the board of education or governing body of a single school district seeking to form a limited purpose or all purpose regional school district would be eligible for grant funding under the SREP; · expands eligibility for funding under the SREP to the boards of education or governing bodies of two or more school districts that conducted a school district regionalization feasibility study within two years prior to the enactment of P.L.2021, c.402, for which the amount of a prior grant award disbursed by the Division of Local Government Services (DLGS) in the Department of Community Affairs is less than the total cost of the study;· removes a provision of law that permits boards of education or governing bodies whose applications are denied approval for grant funding under the SREP to be afforded an opportunity to contest the decision; and· provides that the DLGS would, prior to considering the approval of a grant application, either notify each non-participating district that is proposed to be included in a regionalization feasibility study or require the applicant to notify each non-participating district, to ensure that the district is afforded an opportunity to provide comment on the proposed regionalization. The bill requires the DLGS to submit quarterly reports to the Legislature that would include information identifying each applicant seeking a grant award under the SREP. P.L.2021, c.402 extends the timeline by which a school district receiving approval or preliminary approval under the SREP would experience State aid reductions pursuant to current law, by a period of four additional years beyond what is provided for under the current State aid reduction timeline. The bill expands eligibility for this modified State aid schedule to a school district that is a participating district under an application for which a lead district has successfully completed a prior grant agreement with the DLGS for the purposes of completing a feasibility study for school district regionalization. The bill also provides various restrictions under which a district would not be eligible for this modified schedule: Finally, the bill provides that a vote on a proposal to enlarge a regional school district may be held at the November school election.

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Vin Gopal (D)*,  Andrew Zwicker (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee (on 02/27/2023)

Official Document