BY LINDA DENICOLA
Staff Writer
It would be advantageous if the issue of who is going to educate children living at Earle Naval Weapons Station could be resolved before school starts in September.
Nineteen years ago, when Colts Neck Township declined to educate them, the borough of Tinton Falls agreed to take on the education of U.S. Navy children living on the base in Colts Neck, but now that the Earle housing is going to be privatized, there could be an influx of non-Navy children living in the housing.
And, on top of that problem, Tinton Falls has not been adequately compensated for educating the children.
According to Tamar Sydney-Gens, Tinton Falls Board of Education secretary/business administrator, there are usually between 103 and 110 students living at Earle attending the school each year.
Assemblyman Mike Panter (D-12), whose district includes both Tinton Falls and Colts Neck, introduced legislation (A-4166) May 10 that will clarify who is responsible for educating military children living in two- and three-bedroom apartments, commonly known as 801 housing, on the Earle Naval Weapons Station property within the geographical boundaries of Colts Neck.
The legislation allows that the Tinton Falls School District (TFSD), under state law adopted in 1988, agreed to educate military dependents living on Earle when the Colts Neck district showed reluctance.
But Panter acknowledges the issue has since been complicated by federal compensation to the Tinton Falls district that is far below the cost of educating the students, as well as the Navy’s plans to open 300 units of military housing on Earle to civilians, beginning in 2010.
Panter has grown more critical of that plan in light of the recent arrest of at least six men suspected of being terrorists who are charged with planning an attack on Fort Dix, and had reportedly considered other installations in Monmouth County.
A-4166 provides that the Tinton Falls School District will continue to provide educational services to the children of military personnel who reside on Earle N.W.S. and are actually assigned to Earle.
The Colts Neck School District will be responsible for educating children of civilian families living on the federal property and the children of military personnel who live on the Earle property but are actually assigned to another base.
“My priority remains the education of the young people who live on the site, but I have serious concerns about plans to simply move a fence and allow civilians to live so close to sensitive infrastructure,” said Panter.
Panter was scheduled to host a meeting with the commanding officer of Naval Weapons Station Earle, Capt. Gary Maynard, and the Navy’s legal counsel, David Gayle, as well as officials from Colts Neck and Tinton Falls last Tuesday at his district office in Shrewsbury.
Panter has also requested that the Assembly Military and Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the Assembly Homeland Security and Preparedness Committee hold a joint hearing where members of the military and law enforcement community can discuss the recent terrorist plot and the potential threat of allowing civilians to reside on federal military bases such as Earle N.W.S.
The public information officer at Earle explained that in 1988 the Navy made a move toward public/private venture housing and since then, many installations have incorporated what he calls PPV housing.
The public information spokesman said that the meeting on Tuesday is the first of what will probably be many meetings and will be just informational in nature. He added that he was not authorized to comment on the issue.
The Department of Defense Web site on housing privatization said the Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) is a public/private program whereby private-sector developers may own, operate, maintain, improve and assume responsibility for military family housing where doing so is economically advantageous and national security is not adversely affected.
The Defense Department provides “on base” privatized housing or military construction housing only when the private sector cannot provide adequate affordable housing.
The MHPI program was created to address two significant problems concerning housing for military service members and their families. The first is the poor condition of Defense Department -owned housing. The department currently owns approximately 166,000 family housing units on and off its bases. About 45 percent of these units need to be renovated or replaced, but there is a shortage of funds for that purpose.
The second problem is a shortage of affordable private housing of adequate quality. According to the Web site, the MHPI program is targeted to junior enlisted personnel. Priority is given to service members, but if there is a need, it can be opened up to the general public.
The housing on Earle, which can house as many as 300 families, is expected to be privatized by 2010. Currently, only 5 percent of the housing is being utilized by military families.
Tinton Falls Board of Education President Peter Karavites said that the board is relieved that Panter and Rep. Rush Holt (D-12) are working on the issue.
“We’re close, but not there yet. There is still the issue of property taxes,” Karavites said.
He explained that the Board of Education met on Monday evening and decided to take a wait-and-see stance. They hoped to get a couple of remaining questions answered at Tuesday’s meeting at Panter’s office. Karavites said the first question has to do with property taxes and impact aid.
“The second concern is, will the county superintendent support students who live next to each other attending different school districts?”.