School Choice Fight Continues: Commissioner’s Decision Clears Key Hurdle – ACLJ Heading to Hearing

A New Jersey father chose a Christian school for his daughter. The local school district tried to bury his claim with bureaucratic obstruction. Now we’re taking the fight to a full hearing – and we intend to win.

At the ACLJ, we believe that when a family chooses a private or religious school for their child, the government shouldn’t punish them for it. That belief is at the heart of a case we have been fighting in New Jersey – and this week, we received an important decision from the New Jersey Commissioner of Education that keeps us firmly on the path to victory.

As we reported in December, the ACLJ secured a significant initial victory in this case when Administrative Law Judge Aurelio Vincitore ruled that the Parsippany-Troy Hills Board of Education unlawfully denied transportation benefits to our client’s child, a student attending a Christian school. The ACLJ found that the Board’s distance measurement method violated New Jersey regulations – which require that distance be measured along the shortest route using public roadways – and that our client’s family was entitled to transportation assistance.

The Board refused to accept that ruling. It filed exceptions with the New Jersey Commissioner of Education, throwing every argument it had at the case: claiming the distance was over 20 miles, challenging our evidence, and even arguing that the petition was filed too late to be heard at all.

Sign our petition: Demand School Choice – Give Every Child Equality of Opportunity and Justice.

What the Commissioner Decided – And Why It’s a Win

On February 26, 2026, the Commissioner issued her decision. While she remanded the case to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) for further proceedings rather than simply adopting the ACLJ’s ruling, make no mistake: This decision contains critical victories for our client and for school choice families across New Jersey.

First, the Commissioner flatly rejected the Board’s timeliness argument. The Board had tried to get the entire case thrown out on a procedural technicality, claiming its final decision was issued in August 2024 and that our client had missed the filing deadline. The Commissioner disagreed entirely, confirming that the November 4, 2024, decision was the operative one and that our client filed well within the 90-day window. That issue is permanently resolved in our favor.

Second – and equally important – the Commissioner did not rule that our client lives more than 20 miles from her school. She did not vindicate the Board’s measurements. She did not side with the Board on the merits. She simply determined that the factual question of distance requires a fuller evidentiary record before a final ruling can be entered. That is an open door – and we are walking through it.

We’re Taking This to a Full Hearing – And We’re Ready

The path forward is clear. The case returns to the OAL, where we will present sworn testimony and a detailed certification from the licensed professional surveyor who measured the route. We will demonstrate with precision that the shortest route along public roadways from our client K.K.’s residence to her school’s nearest public entrance is under 20 miles – exactly as the survey showing 19.7 miles has always confirmed.

The Board threw everything it had at this case. It ran multiple Google Maps measurements. Its own transportation supervisor personally drove the route. It raised procedural objections. And it still could not establish that the distance exceeds 20 miles. We already have the evidence. Now we have the forum to present it with full force.

School choice is not a privilege. It is a right. Families who sacrifice to send their children to Christian and other religious schools deserve equal access to the government services their tax dollars fund. We will not allow a school district to use bureaucratic manipulation to punish a family for that choice.

We will keep fighting – for this child, for her father, and for every family in New Jersey who deserves better. Sign our petition to demand school choice for every family.