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).