§ 18A:7F-49 — Determination of base per pupil amount; grade level weights.

7. The commissioner shall determine, based on the standards established pursuant to section 4 of this act, a base per pupil amount, and shall develop appropriate weights reflecting the differing costs of providing education at the kindergarten, elementary, middle school, and high school levels, which weights shall be applied in determining a district's base cost as set forth in section 8 of this act. The base per pupil amount for the 2008-2009 school year shall be $9,649. The weight for kindergarten shall be 0.5 in the case of a pupil enrolled in a half-day kindergarten program and 1.0 in the case of a pupil enrolled in a full-day kindergarten program, and shall be 1.0 for the elementary (grades 1-5) level, 1.04 for the middle school (grades 6-8) level, and 1.17 for the high school (grades 9-12) level. The base per pupil amount shall be adjusted by the CPI in the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 school years as required pursuant to subsection b. of section 4 of this act. For subsequent school years, the base per pupil amount and the grade level weights shall be established in the Educational Adequacy Report, with the base per pupil amount adjusted by the CPI for each of the two school years following the first school year to which the report is applicable. L.2007, c.260, s.7.