Christie Signs Bill to Ease N.J. Special Ed Costs for School Districts (NJ)

September 14, 2010

A bill designed to shield public school districts from having to assume the $1,300 cost of evaluation services for an out-of-state special education student enrolled in private schools within the district has been signed into law by Gov. Chris Christie.

Instead, the state government will pick up the cost.

"New Jersey has many outstanding schools that provide special education services and it’s understandable that parents from out-of-state would want to send their children here, but it’s simply not feasible to expect our public school districts to shou lder the costs of them doing so," Assemblywoman Connie Wagner (D-Bergen), the bill‘s sponsor, said Monday.

Since 2004, the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act has required that a school district provide evaluation services to special education students enrolled in a non-public school located within the district, even if the student’s permanent residence is in another state.

The state Department of Education, however, has interpreted current state law in such as way as to make out-of-state, non-public school students ineligible for state aid to pay for these evaluation services. As a result, school districts are forced to defray the costs using local property taxes or federal special education funding intended for public school students.

Wagner’s law (A-2300) clarifies that a school district is eligible to receive state funding to provide the special education evaluation services.

Wagner said the Paramus school district recently conducted an initial evaluation of a pupil in March that totaled $1,500, with a subsequent occupational therapy evaluation that totaled an additional $700.

"For a district like Paramus, that is losing almost 99 percent of its state aid this year, these costs add up quickly," Wagner said. "With this change, we can provide relief to both school districts and taxpayers throughout the state."