Legislation sponsored by Senator Joe Pennacchio to help prevent families from lying about a child’s address in order to enroll the child in an out-of-district New Jersey school is now law.

Sen. Joe Pennacchio’s legislation to prevent families from lying about a child’s address in order to enroll the child in an out-of-district New Jersey school is now law. (SenateNJ.com)

“It is estimated that thousands of students across New Jersey are illicitly enrolled in a New Jersey school outside their home district,” said Pennacchio (R-Morris, Passaic, Essex). “This type of “boundary hopping” comes at a significant cost to the receiving school and it takes away valuable resources and opportunities from the students and families who live in the district and pay taxes to fund their local schools.  This legislation gives districts a valuable tool to help settle questions about where a student is really living when a residency dispute arises.”

Thousands of families game the system, enroll students in the wrong NJ school. This new law will help end that. https://t.co/fOAeFc1Doo

— Sen. Joe Pennacchio (@joepennacchio) December 3, 2015

The legislation, S-1946, permits school districts in a dispute with a family over a child’s eligibility to enroll in the district to request the Motor Vehicle Commission for the name and address of a student’s parent or guardian.