TRENTON — Parents whose children attend summer school would have to pay for the classes under a bill set for a vote in the Assembly today. “The alternative might be they have to eliminate (summer classes),” said Frank Belluscio, spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association. “With the tight financial situation they’re in, the cutbacks in state aid,...
Senator Nicholas Sacco, shown in this 2004 file photo, is the main sponsor of a bill which would require parents to pay to send their children to summer school.TRENTON — Parents whose children attend summer school would have to pay for the classes under a bill set for a vote in the Assembly today.
“The alternative might be they have to eliminate (summer classes),” said Frank Belluscio, spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association. “With the tight financial situation they’re in, the cutbacks in state aid, many of them need this option.”
The bill (A2794) exempts students whose families are below the federal poverty level, which is $22,050 for a family of four. Students who qualify for free or reduced lunch would be charged 50 to 75 percent of the tuition costs. Its sponsors estimate the summer tuition would average $200 per student.
The bill was also approved by the Senate Education Committee this morning and will advance for a vote in the full Senate.
“Charging tuition for summer school is not the ideal, but it certainly is better than the alternative of no summer school,” said state Sen. Nicholas Sacco (D-Hudson), the bill’s prime sponsor. Sacco is mayor and assistant superintendent of schools in North Bergen.