SOMERSET -- The Hillsborough Township Public School District, the Somerset Hills School District and the Watchung Hills Regional High School District are among those in the county that have adhered to a law that requires all school districts in New Jersey to adopt a policy allowing qualified children to use medical marijuana.

Under a bill signed into law by Gov. Chris Christie on Nov. 9, parents, guardians and primary caregivers are allowed to give their sick and disabled children edible medical marijuana on a school bus, school property or at school-sponsored events.

A student must be diagnosed with a developmental disability, and be a registered patient with the state medicinal marijuana program, according to the law.

"It's the statute," said Dr. Lisa M. Antunes, Hillsborough Schools Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction. "We try to move policy as quickly as we can. It's just our standard operating procedure to do so. You never want policy sort of hanging out there."

Antunes said that to her knowledge no student in the school district is currently taking medical marijuana.

On May 9, the Hillsborough Board of Education voted to approve its policy. Two days later, the Somerset Hills Board of Education approved its policy.

Wednesday night, the Watchung Hills Regional High School District adopted its policy, said School Superintendent Elizabeth Jewett in an email.

The Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District Board of Education will address the issue at its next meeting, according to a spokeswoman for School Superintendent Russell Lazovick. Montgomery Township School Superintendent Nancy Gartenberg said in an email that the subject is on their June agenda.

The Franklin Township Public School District is preparing to bring the matter before its Board of Education in the near future, according to a spokeswoman for School Superintendent John Ravally.

The bill (

) was initiated by the hardship of then-16-year-old Genny Barbour from Maple Shade, who is diagnosed autism and severe epilepsy,

because officials fear they would be breaking the law.

Marijuana possession remains a federal crime, despite the state medical marijuana law.

In 2014, Roger Barbour, Genny's father and an attorney, mounted what was believed to be the first court challenge in the county over cannabis use in school when he appealed a judge's decision denying access to edible marijuana at the Larc School in Bellmawr.

As a result, last spring the Larc School was the first school in the nation to allow medical marijuana on campus.

Antunes said the Hillsborough Board of Education put together its policy with the help of Toms River-based policy consultants Strauss Esmay Associates, LLP. It reads in part:

"The Board of Education, in accordance with the requirements of N.J.S.A. 18A:4012.22, must adopt a policy authorizing parents, guardians, and primary caregivers to administer medical marijuana to a qualifying student patient while on school grounds, aboard a school bus, or attending a school sponsored event."

The student and the primary caregiver must complete the registration process to obtain a Registry Identification Card from the New Jersey Department of Health, according to the policy.

The principal, in consultation with the school nurse, the school physician, and the superintendent of schools, will review each request and upon approval will inform the parent in writing of the approval with details for the administering of medical marijuana to the qualifying student patient, according to the policy.

Dave Hutchinson may be reached at dhutchinson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DHutch_SL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.