New Jersey School District Denies Aid to Christian School Family – Disregards New Jersey Law

The ACLJ is continuing our fight for parental rights and school choice in New Jersey. Despite our ongoing legal challenge and overwhelming evidence proving eligibility, the Parsippany-Troy Hills School District has doubled down on its unlawful denial of transportation assistance to a Christian family – repeating the exact same error for a second consecutive school year. So the ACLJ is taking additional legal action.

Our client’s daughter attends a Christian school, and New Jersey law requires districts to provide transportation aid for students attending schools within 20 miles of their residence, including Christian schools. The district’s unlawful conduct began in August 2024 when they first denied transportation aid to our client’s daughter. Our client didn’t simply accept this bureaucratic denial. He took action – first providing Google Maps data showing the route was under 20 miles. When the district dismissed this, he went further, hiring a licensed professional surveying company. Their official report confirmed what our client had been saying all along: The distance is 19.7 miles – well under the statutory 20-mile maximum.

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Despite this professional evidence, the district still refused transportation. We filed an administrative petition in January 2025, and we have filed a Motion for Summary Judgment, urging the administrative court to rule in our favor and apply the clear mandates of New Jersey law.

Now, with that case still pending, the district has issued an identical denial for the 2025-2026 school year. We have filed a new lawsuit challenging this repeated violation of state law.

A Stunning Display of Bureaucratic Defiance

On August 15, 2025, the district sent our client another “Eligibility Determination Letter” denying aid in lieu of transportation for his daughter – using the same false claim that the distance exceeds the statutory 20-mile maximum. This new determination is particularly egregious because:

• Nothing has changed. The residence address and school address remain exactly the same.
• The evidence is undeniable. Our client previously provided both Google Maps data and an official report from a licensed New Jersey surveying company, confirming the distance is 19.7 miles.
• A legal challenge is pending. The district issued this new denial despite the fact that their 2024-2025 decision is currently being contested before the Commissioner of Education.

The district’s August 15 letter provides no explanation for why it continues to find the mileage exceeds 20 miles, even though professional surveying evidence conclusively establishes the distance is 19.7 miles – well under the statutory maximum.

The Law Is Crystal Clear

New Jersey law mandates: “Distance shall be measured using the shortest route along public roadways or public walkways between the entrance of the student’s residence nearest the public roadway or public walkway and the nearest public entrance of the school the student attends.”

Our client has provided documented proof – including an official survey from a licensed professional – that the shortest route is 19.7 miles. Our new petition filed with the Commissioner of Education for the 2025–2026 school year shows that the district’s refusal to accept this evidence and its repetition of an erroneous denial is arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law. By standing with this family, we’re sending a powerful message that Christians will not be intimidated into accepting second-class status under the law.

Standing Firm for Parental Rights

The ACLJ will continue fighting until this family receives the transportation assistance they are entitled to under New Jersey law. This case is a crucial test of whether school districts will be held accountable when they violate state law and obstruct religious education.

The right to choose Christian education must be protected. When school districts are allowed to arbitrarily dismiss professional evidence and repeat unlawful denials year after year, it creates a dangerous precedent that could systematically deny services to families exercising their constitutional right to religious education.