TINTON FALLS TINTON FALLS — The borough may need to build two new schools as school growth issues come to a head, according to Board of Education President Peter Karavites.
“I’m calling it the perfect storm,” Karavites told the Borough Council at the Aug. 19 meeting. “It’s a combination of many things, and they’re all coming to a head at once.”
Karavites went over concerns that include new third-round Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) regulations; new development in the borough; additional development proposed by Fort Monmouth’s reuse authority; new government regulations; and potential housing at Naval Weapons Station Earle.
The Tinton Falls School District’s three schools are all at or near capacity, according to Karavites.
The Mahala F. Atchison School, which is at full capacity with 722 students, recently had a large enrollment increase in kindergartners, which Karavites attributed in part to the recently opened Avalon Bay apartments.
Though the apartment complex is only 50 percent occupied, he noted that more than 25 children had already enrolled in school from the complex.
“Even after an expansion four years ago, we are at capacity again,” Karavites said of the Tinton Falls Middle School.
He noted that the Swimming River School was the only school in the district with some room to breathe, though it is near capacity.
“COAH is the main reason we have this issue in this town,” Karavites said. “COAH units bring young children to our schools.”
New round-three obligations with credits would require 346 affordable units to be built, according to Karavites. With the borough close to the maximum 25 percent of affordable senior units, the housing obligation would have to be filled with family units.
“To meet the mandate the traditional way, [the borough] would have to build 1,730 housing units,” Karavites said.
He called the obligation “totally ridiculous.”
“Where are we going to put 1,700 units in this borough?” Karavites asked. “Where are we going to educate the children from 1,700 units? We would have to probably build two more schools if that happens.”
A new school to house 500 additional children would have to be 75,000 to 90,000 square feet and would require 10 to 15 acres and $32 million to build, according to Karavites.
He added that a new school would require an additional $3 million in ongoing costs such as salaries, benefits, transportation and miscellaneous expenses.
Commercial space only requires a minimal 2.5 percent contribution from developers to meet the state-mandated COAH obligation, Karavites said, noting that the new master plan has a large number of commercial blocks.
The Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Planning Authority’s (FMERPA) plan calls for 288 residential units and commercial and office space that could generate the requirement to create more than 150 units of affordable housing in the borough.
Under New Jersey law, municipalities must provide their fair share of low- and moderate-income housing. COAH’s roundthree rules state that for every four new residential units built by a developer, one must be designated affordable housing. Additionally, one unit of housing is required for every 15 jobs created in a municipality.
“They did not take into account the increase of school costs,” Karavites said.
Mayor Peter Maclearie said that he would not vote for any FMERPA plan without COAH’s guarantee in writing that the obligation generated by the fort would not grow until jobs created after the closure exceed the 5,000 jobs that will be lost.
Another concern for Karavites is new government regulations being imposed on schools that would require full-day preschool special education, full-day preschool with free or reduced lunch, full-day kindergarten, and a requirement for classrooms to have bathrooms.
“That’s 66 new students, that’s four classrooms,” he said. “And every one of those classrooms needs bathrooms. We do not have that amount of classrooms that have that amount of bathrooms.”
He said the law would allow for the borough to send children to another district, such as Neptune. However, it would not account for busing costs.
“COAH brings young children, and that will really affect us,” Karavites said.
He noted that a 4 percent cap on the school budget increase from year to year hampers the district’s ability to accommodate the increased student population. The influx of children would force the schools to increase class sizes, which would detrimentally affect education, students, and eventually property values, he said.
“Sooner or later we have to take away things that aren’t mandated, such as music, art and after-school activities like sports,” Karavites said. “If we keep going the way we are, we will have larger class size and reduced curriculum. We are very proud of our schools and we would hate to see this happen.”
He urged the council and the school board to continue to discuss the issue.
“We need to continue to discuss this,” Karavites said. “We need to work together, because the perfect storm is here. This district is in trouble. We are in big trouble in housing the students that will be coming to our schools in the next four or five years.”
Maclearie advised Karavites to have more discussions with the Planning Board in an effort to control the amount of development and resulting school-age children coming into the borough.
“Your presentation tonight really paints a dark picture,” said Councilman Paul Ford, who is liaison to the school board. “I don’t know what the answer is.”
Council President Gary Baldwin agreed with the importance of working with the school board going forward.
“We are walking hand in hand on this issue,” Baldwin said. “We’re in this together.”