This version of the unified school district layer, representing districts that provide education to all grade/age levels, uses high-quality base map spatial data published by the State of New Jersey. The U.S. Census Bureau's latest school district boundary data (TIGER) were used for guidance in establishing which municipalities to include in each district. The district boundaries were created using updated NJ Municipal Boundaries (Govt_admin_municipal_bnd). In addition, school district boundaries in two areas, on and near military bases, were edited to reflect special arrangements made for students residing in base housing. See Supplemental Information for details. By U.S. Census Bureau definition, school districts are single-purpose administrative units within which local officials provide, or pay other districts to provide, public educational services for the area's residents. The Census Bureau obtains the boundaries, names, local education agency codes, grade ranges, and school district levels for school districts from State officials for the primary purpose of providing the U.S. Department of Education with estimates of the number of children in poverty within each school district. This information serves as the basis for the Department of Education to determine the annual allocation of Title I funding to States and school districts. In 2015 NJ Department of Education (NJDOE) corrected grade ranges and district types according to financial obligation, not the provision of educational services. NJDOE used set of grades, based on financial responsibility, to assign the data for each child to exactly one school district, except for districts covering Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in Burlington County. See Supplemental Information and Process Steps for details. This data set normally is reviewed annually, and updated if necessary using school district information provided by the NJ Department of Education (NJDOE).
The data layer is not survey data and must not be used as survey data. The polygons delineated in this data set do not represent legal boundaries. See the balance of this metadata record for conditions that limit appropriate uses. Users are urged to look at this documentation to assess the fitness of the data for any planned use. Acknowledgement of the provider, NJ Office of Information Technology, Office of GIS (NJOGIS), is requested for maps, data or other products derived from these data. The State of New Jersey makes great effort to provide secure, accurate, and complete data and metadata. However, portions of the data and metadata may be incorrect or not current. Any errors or omissions should be reported for investigation. The State of New Jersey, its officers, employees or agents shall not be liable for damages or losses of any kind arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of data and metadata, including but not limited to, damages or losses caused by reliance upon the accuracy or timeliness of any such data and metadata, or damages incurred from the viewing, distributing, or copying of those materials. The data and metadata are provided "as is." No warranty of any kind, implied, expressed, or statutory, including but not limited to the warranties of non-infringement of third party rights, title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and freedom from computer virus, is given with respect to the data and metadata, or its hyperlinks to other Internet resources. The State disclaims any duty or obligation either to maintain availability of or to update the data and metadata. All web site data distribution by NJOGIS is, in addition, subject to the Conditions of Use for State of New Jersey executive branch web sites, listed on the State’s Legal Statement & Disclaimers page https://www.nj.gov/nj/legal.html .
