New Jersey law gives parents of twins, multiples more say in public preschool placements
TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey parents of twins and other multiple-birth children will have more control over their children’s placement in public preschool programs beginning next school year under legislation signed Thursday by Gov. Mikie Sherrill.
The bipartisan legislation, sponsored by Assemblyman Greg McGuckin, R-Ocean, and Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia, R-Sussex, Morris and Warren, expands existing state law to allow parents or guardians of twins and higher-order multiples to request that their children be placed together or separately in public preschool classrooms.
The new law also allows parents to request that their children be treated as a single unit during preschool lottery systems or open enrollment, preventing situations in which one child is admitted while a sibling is not.
“This is a win for parental rights,” McGuckin (R-Ocean) said. “This new law supports parents’ right to make the educational decisions that are in the bests interests of their children starting with preschool.”
The legislation, A5218/S4349, was prompted in part by the experience of Jackie Anderson, a Brick Township mother of identical twin girls who advocated for changes after one of her daughters was accepted into her school district’s preschool program through a lottery while the other was not.
Anderson testified before the Senate Education Committee about the challenges families of multiples face when preschool admission decisions are determined by lottery systems.
“A random lottery outcome had the power to make a significant developmental decision for two three-year-old twins. A lottery should determine whether a seat is available. It should not determine whether young multiples are separated. Separation should be an individualized developmental decision, not one made by chance,” Anderson told the Senate Education Committee.
Under a law enacted in 2008, New Jersey parents and guardians of twins or higher-order multiples attending the same public school in kindergarten through eighth grade already have the right to direct whether their children are placed in the same classroom or separate classrooms.
The newly signed legislation extends those protections to public preschool programs, establishing a statewide standard for classroom placement and enrollment procedures involving children from multiple births.
“The Legislature in 2008 wisely afforded parents the right to have a say in how public schools placed twins. By including public preschools under the law, we are creating a statewide standard ensuring all families of multiples have the chance to choose what works best for their children and all schools have one set of rules for admission,” Fantasia (R-Sussex, Morris, Warren) said.
The law applies to public preschool programs operated by school districts, Head Start programs and licensed child care providers.
The new provisions are scheduled to take effect beginning with the 2027-28 school year.
