New Jersey Department of Education

Special FAQs for the Current Choice Student Application Cycle

Topics (Click on the topic below to go directly to the related Q&A):

FY2025 enrollment limits and actual funding

Special dispensation for siblings and students who have completed the terminal grade of sending/constituent choice districts

Resident students who move

Students who receive a commissioner-approved waiver of application deadlines

FY2025 enrollment limits and actual funding

Q: How will the district's FY2025 enrollment limits be derived? Will my actual funding be based on this figure?

A: The maximum student enrollment for FY2025 will be based on each district's FY2024 actual funded choice enrollment as shown in the district's State Aid Statement. Your FY2025 approved maximum cannot exceed this number (with the exception of special dispensations, and any choice students that receive commissioner approved waivers -  see "Special dispensation for siblings and students from sending/constituent choice districts," below.) Final choice funding will be based on the district's projected choice enrollment submitted by the district in January 2024. The final choice funding and enrollment will be included in the district's annual State Aid Statement, issued in February/March. This enrollment data will then become the maximum for the following application cycle.

Q: If my district didn't enroll any choice students in FY2024, what will my FY2025 enrollment maximum be?

A: Approved choice districts that did not enroll any choice students in FY2024 will be given an FY2025 enrollment maximum of 3.

Special dispensation for choice applicants who are siblings and students from sending/constituent choice districts

Q: Can I provide enrollment and receive choice funding in FY2025 for current choice students' siblings and students from sending choice districts who are applying to choice, even if I exceed the NJDOE's choice enrollment limit?

A: The answer is a qualified yes. Districts that give enrollment preference to siblings of choice students who are presently enrolled in and attending the choice district for the current school year and who will continue to attend in the following school year may receive special dispensation from the NJDOE for an increase to their maximum choice enrollment. Similarly, choice districts that are in a formal sending/receiving or constituent relationship with another choice district and give enrollment preference to choice students who have completed the terminal grade of the sending district may receive special dispensation from the NJDOE for an increase to their maximum choice enrollment. Note that special dispensation will be given only if the district can demonstrate that all open seats will be filled by siblings and/or receiving students. Note: these enrollment preferences must be posted in the district's enrollment policies and in their profile. 

In order to get an accurate count of these enrollment preference students, districts should send communication to all their choice families and any receiving districts to ensure that these students submit choice applications by the application deadline in December.

Special dispensation (i.e., additional seats above the enrollment maximum) for sibling applicants: The choice program office will reach out to all choice districts immediately after the application deadline with instructions for submitting your projected choice enrollment data, including siblings of currently enrolled choice students, to determine if special dispensation (i.e., additional seats) is needed.

Siblings who miss the application deadline and the deadline to receive special dispensation in December must complete a waiver of the application deadline. If approved, these choice students will become "unfunded choice students".  Note: After the district's choice enrollment data submission in January, the district’s choice enrollment and funding will be finalized for the subsequent year.

Resident students who move

Q: How will resident students who move and wish to convert to choice status be handled?

A: Resident students who move during the school year must be allowed to continue to attend the district for the remainder of the school year, provided they are in the choice–approved grades/programs and they meet any program-specific criteria. These students will become temporary "unfunded choice students" for the remainder of the school year, and are eligible for choice transportation. However, the students must apply for enrollment in the choice district for the next school year.

Resident students who move before the application deadline need to apply for a seat in the choice–approved grades/programs and meet any program-specific criteria, like other choice applicants. However, resident students who move may be given enrollment preference if the district has adopted a preference policy for these students, as follows:

If resident students move and file choice applications for the following year before the application deadline, the district will give them enrollment preference (i.e., accept them ahead of other non-preference applicants), provided there are choice seats available in the choice-approved grades/ programs and the students meet any program-specific criteria. However, no additional choice seats above the maximum will be approved by the NJDOE to accommodate these students. This policy needs to be included on the district profile and clearly posted on the district's website.

Resident students who move after the application deadline may apply as late applicants for the following year. Some districts have a policy that these students can be added to the front of the district's waitlist, provided the students will enroll in a choice-approved grade/program and they meet any program-specific criteria. However, no additional choice seats above the maximum will be approved by the NJDOE to accommodate these students. This policy needs to be included on the district profile and clearly posted on the district's website.

 

Students who receive a commissioner-approved waiver

Q: How will waivers work and will a student who receives a waiver be funded?

A: Students who receive a commissioner-approved waiver of the application deadline are given an exception to a district's enrollment maximum. If a district accepts a student with a waiver and it does not have an available choice seat to accommodate the student, the NJDOE will increase the district's choice enrollment maximum. However, funding for that student depends on when the student is enrolled:

If the student is enrolled before the NJDOE choice enrollment data collection in January, then the district will receive funding for that additional student in the next school year.

If the student is enrolled after the NJDOE choice enrollment data collection, the district will not receive funding for that student in the next school year, but will receive funding in subsequent years. In this situation, the student must be coded as an "unfunded choice student" in NJ SMART.


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