[UPDATE: January 16, 2024] New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has signed a bill which would allow nonpublic school children in Jackson, Toms River, Manchester, along with districts around the state, to potentially begin receiving busing to schools.

New Jersey law mandates that school districts provide busing to eligible students within the district. But as communities continue to grow and expand beyond district borders, parents of students who do not meet eligibility criteria are forced to spend hours in the car every day transporting their children to and from school.

The bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Louis Greenwald (D-6), and Senators Vin Gopal (D-11) and Bob Singer (R-30), authorizes public school districts in the state to contract with private transportation consortiums to manage the state-mandated busing obligations.

Although the bill was intended to be a permanent fix, last-minute opposition forced the sponsors to amend it to a three-year pilot program, as the original legislation creating the LSTA was, although this bill now permits it on a statewide level, allowing surrounding districts the option of opting in to the LSTA.

See original story below:

Legislation sponsored by Senator Robert Singer that would help more nonpublic school students receive reliable busing services was approved by the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.

“Private school districts are grappling with immense transportation challenges amid rising inflation and bus driver shortages,” said Singer (R-Lakewood).

The bill, which is also co-sponsored by Senator Vin Gopal (D-Long Branch) passed the committee unanimously.

“Families who attend private schools are having to seek alternative transportation options as school districts face financial constraints in providing safe and dependable busing.

This legislation would establish a transportation program for participating nonpublic school districts to facilitate broader access to reliable busing services for their students.”

Under current law, public and private school districts are responsible for transporting students who are within the state’s distance requirements.

The state allocates funds to each school district to fund busing or aid-in-lieu of transportation that is paid to parents or guardians.

Currently, New Jersey allocates $1,022 per pupil in public and private schools.

After multiple years of high inflation and volatile gas price fluctuations, nonpublic school districts are finding it difficult to secure contracts with busing companies to provide transportation for their students.

In 2022, more students were given aid-in-lieu of transportation than were transported by the school districts.

Senator Singer’s bill requires the commissioner of the Board of Education to establish a nonpublic school transportation program to encourage private schools to group together to provide transportation more effectively for their students.

Participating nonpublic school districts would be required to disburse funds to the consortium in the amount equal to the aid-in-lieu for each student who is required by law to receive transportation.

The consortium would then be responsible for utilizing those funds to provide transportation for eligible students.

Additionally, the bill instructs the commissioner of the Board of Education to establish a committee that would be responsible for overseeing the operations of each consortium and their implementation of the transportation program.

“By establishing a consortium system for nonpublic school districts, we can relieve the financial burden felt by participating schools and concerned parents,” Singer added.

“This bill provides an efficient cost-effective solution to address private school districts’ transportation challenges while reinforcing their responsibility to provide safe and reliable busing services.”

The bill, which is sponsored in the Assembly by Assemblyman Louis Greenwald (D-Cherry Hill), passed the Assembly Education Committee in a unanimous vote last week.