There are changes coming to the Colts Neck and Tinton Falls school districts because of a piece of legislation Gov. Phil Murphy has signed into law.
The law requires new students residing on Naval Weapons Station Earle to attend the Colts Neck School District for kindergarten through eighth grade. Traditionally, students who live on the base – the residential section of which is in Colts Neck – have attended the Tinton Falls School District. The law replaces an agreement dating back to the 1980s.
Tinton Falls has been seeking a change in the Colts Neck students’ school assignment for several years and finally achieved its objective.
The bill was sponsored by Monmouth County’s Democratic legislators, state Sen. Vin Gopal and Assembly members Eric Houghtaling and Joann Downey. All three lawmakers thanked Murphy for signing the bill into law on May 16.
Beginning with the 2018-2019 school year, students who reside on the federal property must be enrolled in the schools of the district in which the students reside in accordance with an enrollment schedule determined by the executive county superintendent of schools.
The enrollment schedule must provide for the transition, over a period of four school years, of all students enrolled in the designated district to enrollment in the schools of the district in which the pupils reside, so that by July 1, 2021 all students are enrolled in the schools of the district in which they reside, according to the legislators.
The bill allows a student an option to continue in the school of the designated district he is attending on the bill’s effective date until graduation from that school. As of 2016, there were 68 NWS Earle students (Colts Neck residents) attending school in the Tinton Falls School District.
Asked to comment on the new law, Colts Neck Superintendent of Schools MaryJane Garibay said, “Colts Neck public schools takes great pride in its annual tradition of welcoming new
students to the district. As children who reside on Naval Weapons Station Earle transition to
Colts Neck, they will join the students and families who transfer to the Colts Neck school district each year, adding to the nearly 1,000 students (pre-kindergarten through eighth grade).
“The district will remain focused on providing unique and personalized learning experiences for all of our students. We look forward to working with Dr. Lester Richens, the executive county superintendent, parents, and members of the NWS Earle community for a positive transition,” Garibay said.
An email seeking comment from the superintendent of the Tinton Falls School District was not returned.
“We are very pleased Gov. Murphy has signed our bill into law to support the Tinton Falls School District by requiring students to attend school within their district,” Houghtaling said. “For too long, Tinton Falls has shouldered the burden of educating students living on the base, students who should have attended Colts Neck, without funding reflective of that enrollment increase. We look forward to working with administrators from both the Tinton Falls and Colts Neck districts to implement this change as efficiently as possible.”
“This is an exciting day for the Tinton Falls School District, which has long struggled under the financial weight of educating the entire NWS Earle student population,” Downey said. “Not only have past districting practices negatively impacted district budgets, it has caused taxpayers to fund the education of students who do not go to school within their district.”
NWS Earle overlaps Colts Neck and Tinton Falls. While the residential part of the base falls within Colts Neck’s borders, the military children currently travel to the far side of the base to attend school in Tinton Falls, an hour’s drive. The new law requires Colts Neck to accept the military children from Tinton Falls, according to Gopal.
The new law also benefits the school districts involved, the senator said. Tinton Falls’ schools are already overcrowded with the town’s population expected to grow, further straining the system. Colts Neck is expected to see a population decrease, resulting in fewer students. Gopal said the law will allow Tinton Falls to reduce its class size while enabling Colts Necks to fill empty desks.
Aid from the federal government is given to Tinton Falls as a partial payment to educate the military children. With the students now transferring to Colts Neck, the funding will follow them to that district, he said.