Official Site of The State of New Jersey

Before seeking to limit student participation in Choice, review the Interdistrict Public School Choice Program Act of 2010 and Administrative Code — Chapter 12 Interdistrict Public School Choice.

The general process to limit student participation in Choice is:

1. Calculate the participation limit.
2. Adopt board resolution to limit student participation.
3. Submit required documentation to the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE).
4. Receive approval or denial from NJDOE.
5. If approved, post board resolution and Student Application Timeline on district website.
6. If applicable, hold lottery. 

A resident district may adopt a board resolution to limit the number of its students participating in the choice program to an approved percentage of students. The participation limits are based on the Application for State School Aid (ASSA) of the year prior to the first student participating in the choice program. 

A resident district may limit participation in Choice to:

• No more than 10 percent of the number of students per grade level per year
• No more than 15 percent of the total number of students enrolled in the resident district

Use the Limiting Resolution Calculations Template to calculate the limiting resolution numbers for your school district. 

Adopt a board resolution specifying the limit on the number of students enrolled in the resident district who may participate in the choice program.

The resident district must submit the following documentation:

• Adopted board resolution specifying the limit on the number of students enrolled in the resident district who may participate in the choice program
• Evidence of the choice program's impact on the resident district

Evidence of the Choice Program's Impact on the Resident District

The evidence should show the choice program's impact on one or more of the following:

• Diversity of student population
• Fiscal conditions
• Number or quality of:
  • Classes
  • Courses
  • Programs
  • Services
• Operations
• Student achievement
• Student enrollment

The NJDOE will review the board resolution and documentation. This process takes at least four weeks.

In determining whether to grant approval of a resident district’s limiting resolution, the NJDOE evaluates if the resident district has demonstrated that the board resolution:

• Is in the best interest of the resident district's students
• Will not adversely affect the resident district's programs, services, operations, or fiscal conditions
• Will not adversely affect or limit the diversity of the remainder of the resident district’s student population who do not participate in the choice program

If approved by the New Jersey Department of Education, the resident district must post the following on their website:

• Adopted board resolution
• Student Application Timeline

If the number of students who submitted the Student Notification to Resident District of Intent to Participate is greater than the resident district's approved limit, the resident district must hold a lottery. The lottery determines which of these students are allowed to participate in the choice program and which are added to the waiting list.

The lottery must be held:

• Within two days of the close of the lottery window for choice districts
• Before the deadline for choice districts to send out the Notices of Acceptance, Non-Acceptance, or Wait Listing

The required process for the resident district's lottery is:

1. Resident district notifies the parent or legal guardian of every student who has submitted a Notice of Intent to Participate form of the date and time of their lottery.
2. Choice districts notify the resident district of their lottery results, indicating the applicants who are to be accepted and those added to the waiting list. If a choice district did not conduct a lottery, it notifies the resident district of the applicants to be accepted.
3. Resident district holds the lottery, which must include all choice applicants who were accepted or added to the waiting list.
4. Resident district immediately notifies the relevant choice districts and the choice applicants of their lottery results.

Those applicants not selected through their resident district’s lottery cannot be accepted by the choice district but may be added to their waiting list.

Enrollment Preference

If the choice district gives enrollment preference to eligible siblings, the resident district must also give preference to eligible siblings. However, this only applies if the both siblings (choice applicant and current choice student) would be attending the same choice district or two choice districts that are in a send-receive relationship [N.J.A.C.6A:23-3.4(d)].