S4349 would let parents of twins, triplets and other multiples ask a public school to enter the children as one group in its preschool lottery. Either all of them would get seats, or all would go on the waitlist. The bill would also let parents decide whether their preschoolers share a classroom, as state law already allows from kindergarten through eighth grade.

Parents of twins, triplets and other multiples could ask a public school to enter their children as one group in its preschool seat lottery, under a bill awaiting action by Gov. Mikie Sherrill. The children would then be picked together, or wait together for openings.

Some school districts pick children at random for their free public preschool seats. In Lindenwold, for one, children who are not picked go on a waitlist and are offered seats in order as openings come up, according to the district.

The bill that would change how those lotteries handle multiples, S4349, passed the Senate 39-0 on Oct. 22. On Oct. 29, the Assembly passed it 77-0 in place of its own identical bill, A5218, according to the Legislature's records.

Sherrill can now sign the bill or veto it. If she does neither within 45 days, it becomes law without her signature, according to the Legislature's website.

Sen. James W. Holzapfel (R, 10th District) and Sen. Angela V. McKnight (D, 31st) are the bill's Senate sponsors. Assemblyman Gregory P. McGuckin (R, 10th), Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia (R, 24th) and Assemblywoman Rosaura "Rosy" Bagolie (D, 27th) sponsor it in the Assembly.

The bill covers twins and what it calls "higher order multiples": triplets, quadruplets, quintuplets or any larger group of siblings born at one time. The state Department of Health counted 2,990 babies born as twins and 68 born as triplets to New Jersey mothers in 2024.

Parents would decide whether the lottery draws their children as a set

The lottery rule would apply to public schools that fill preschool seats by lottery. If a parent or guardian asks, the school would have to treat the twins, triplets or other multiples "as one unit," the bill says. If fewer seats are open than there are children in the set, every one of them would go on the waitlist.

If the children get seats in a school with more than one preschool classroom, parents could also choose whether they share a room or are split up.

As introduced in May, the bill would have required schools to draw every set of multiples together, whether or not parents asked.

The Senate Education Committee changed that on Oct. 1 so the choice belongs to parents, according to its statement. The committee also spelled out that the whole set goes on the waitlist when there are not enough seats. The Assembly Education Committee made the same changes to A5218 on Oct. 15.

Preschool would join a 2008 law on twins' classrooms

The bill would also change a 2008 state law that lets parents of twins and triplets choose whether their children share a classroom. That law currently covers grades kindergarten and up. The bill would extend it to preschool.

Under the 2008 law, parents of twins or other multiples at the same public school can ask in writing that the children share a classroom or be split up. From kindergarten through eighth grade, the request is due within 14 days after the first day of school, and the principal must provide the placement the parents choose.

The principal may recommend a placement and offer professional advice. After that, the children stay where their parents chose for the school year unless the school board moves them.

Only the board can make that change, and only when the principal asks for it. The principal has to wait for the end of the first grading period and talk with the parents and teachers first. Even then, the principal needs a reason: the placement is disrupting the class, or it is not helping the children grow academically or socially.

In high school, parents can still make the request, but the principal decides. Families can appeal the decision to the board.

S4349 would stretch the kindergarten-through-eighth-grade rule down to preschool, so a principal would have to grant a preschool parent's request too, with the same exceptions. The rule does not apply in a district with only one classroom for a grade. A placement also cannot go forward if it conflicts with the Individualized Education Plan of a child who receives special education services.

The bill also reaches state-funded preschool classrooms outside public schools, such as at licensed child care centers and at Head Start, the federally funded preschool program. Where one of those programs has more than one preschool classroom, parents could ask for the children to share a room or be split up. Unlike a public school, those programs would not have to grant the request.

Last school year, the state planned to pay for 25,834 preschool seats at child care centers and 5,662 at Head Start, according to the Department of Education's March report to the Legislature.

Under laws signed in 2025, school districts that get state preschool money must try to collaborate with nearby Head Start programs and child care centers to run preschool classes, according to the department's January guidance.

If it becomes law, S4349 would first apply in the next full school year after it is enacted. Parents who want their children drawn as a set would have to ask before their district holds its lottery. In Lindenwold, the draw for this school year closed March 27.

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Sources

Lindenwold Public Schools, "Preschool Registration and Lottery" (accessed Nov. 7, 2026)

New Jersey Department of Education, "Fiscal Year 2026 Report to the New Jersey State Legislature on Preschool Expansion and Mixed Delivery" (March 2026)

New Jersey Department of Education, Division of Early Childhood Services, "Clarification of Implementation of the New Jersey Universal Preschool and Kindergarten Act (P.L. 2025, c.100) and P.L. 2025, c.101," from Katrina T. McCombs, Assistant Commissioner (Jan. 21, 2026)

New Jersey Department of Health, NJSHAD, "Summary Health Indicator Report - Multiple Births" (May 28, 2026)

New Jersey Legislature, Assembly Education Committee, "Statement to Assembly, No. 5218," with committee amendments, 222nd Legislature (Oct. 15, 2026)

New Jersey Legislature, Bill No. S4349, bill history, sponsors, roll call votes and sponsor roster records, 222nd Legislature (accessed Nov. 6, 2026)

New Jersey Legislature, Bill No. S4349, "Concerns enrollment of twins or higher order multiples in public preschool programs," first reprint, sponsored by Sen. James W. Holzapfel, Sen. Angela V. McKnight, Assemblyman Gregory P. McGuckin, Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia and Assemblywoman Rosaura "Rosy" Bagolie, 222nd Legislature (Oct. 1, 2026); companion Bill No. A5218

New Jersey Legislature, Bill No. S4349, "Concerns enrollment of twins or higher order multiples in public preschool programs," introduced, sponsored by Sen. James W. Holzapfel and Sen. Angela V. McKnight, 222nd Legislature (May 28, 2026)

New Jersey Legislature, "Frequently Asked Questions" (accessed Nov. 4, 2026)

New Jersey Legislature, P.L.2008, c.70, "An Act concerning the classroom placement of certain students and supplementing chapter 36 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes" (Sept. 2, 2008)

New Jersey Legislature, Senate Education Committee, "Statement to Senate, No. 4349," with committee amendments, 222nd Legislature (Oct. 1, 2026)

Office of the Governor, "Governor Sherrill Takes Action on Legislation" (Sept. 28, 2026)

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