New Jersey-2014-S892-Introduced

An Act concerning the public school of attendance for pupils who reside on certain federal property and amending and supplementing P.L.1988, c.12.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. Section 2 of P.L.1988, c.12 (C.18A:38-7.8) is amended to read as follows:

a. After July 1, 1988, persons of school age who reside on federal property which is located entirely within the geographic boundaries of two or more school districts, one of which is a constituent district of a limited purpose regional district with more than six constituent districts in a county of the fifth class shall be deemed to be domiciled in a district to be designated by the executive county superintendent of schools. These persons shall attend the schools of the designated district and the designated district shall count these pupils in the resident enrollment of the district for all State aid and all federal funds provided under Pub. L. 81-874, 20 U.S.C. s. 236 et seq.

b. [The designated district shall be a district that contains within its boundaries a portion of the federal property on which the pupils reside.] Not later than 10 days after the effective date of [this act] P.L.1988, c.12 (C.18A:38-7.7 et seq.), the board of education of any school district that seeks to be designated by the executive county superintendent of schools pursuant to this section shall adopt a resolution by majority vote of its members indicating its interest and the resolution shall be forwarded to the executive county superintendent. Based on a determination of the best interests of the pupils residing on federal property and pupils residing in the districts seeking designation, the executive county superintendent shall, within 30 days of the effective date of [this act] P.L.1988, c.12 (C.18A:38-7.7 et seq.), certify to the Commissioner of Education which local school district, if any, shall be the designated district. Once the executive county superintendent has certified the designated district, the executive county superintendent may not revoke or alter [that] the certification of the designated district for those pupils who reside on the federal property who are the dependent children of military personnel, and shall alter the certification of the designated district for those pupils who reside on the federal property who are not the dependent children of military personnel in accordance with the provisions of section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). In the event that no board of education adopts a resolution indicating an interest in being designated pursuant to this section, the executive county superintendent shall not designate a district and the pupils residing on the federal property shall attend the schools of the district in which they reside.

c. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, those pupils residing on federal property prior to October 1, 1987 shall be permitted at the option of each pupil to continue in the school they were attending on September 30, 1987 until graduation from the school. For the purpose of calculating State and federal aid, each pupil who elects to remain shall continue to be included in the resident enrollment of the district in which they reside.

(cf: P.L.1988, c.12, s.2)

2. Section 3 of P.L.1988, c.12 (C.18A:38-7.9) is amended to read as follows:

3. a. In the event the designated district is composed of more than one municipality, when allocating equalized valuations or district incomes, pursuant to the provisions of section 3 of P.L.2007, c.260 (C.18A:7F-45), for the purpose of calculating State aid, persons attending schools in the designated district pursuant to section 2 of [this act] section 2 of P.L.1988, c.12 (C.18A:38-7.8) or section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall be assigned to each municipality comprising the designated district in direct proportion to the number of persons ordinarily attending school from each municipality in the designated district without considering the persons attending pursuant to [this act] section 2 of P.L.1988, c.12 (C.18A:38-7.8) or section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

b. In the event the designated district is a constituent district of a limited purpose regional district, when allocating equalized valuations or district incomes, pursuant to the provisions of section 3 of P.L.2007, c.260 (C.18A:7F-45), for the purpose of apportioning the amounts to be raised by taxes for the limited purpose regional district of which the designated district is a constituent district, persons attending schools in the designated district pursuant to section 2 of [this act] P.L.1988, c.12 (C.18A:38-7.8) or section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall not be counted.

(cf: P.L.2007, c.260, s.59)

3. (New section) a. Effective July 1, 2013, the executive county superintendent of schools shall choose a new designated district for the pupils who reside on the federal property who are not the dependent children of military personnel. Not later than 30 days after the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the board of education of any school district that seeks to be designated by the executive county superintendent pursuant to this section shall adopt a resolution by a majority vote of its members indicating its interest and the resolution shall be forwarded to the executive county superintendent. Based on a determination of: the impact of the designation on the pupils who reside on the federal property who are not the dependent children of military personnel and the pupils residing in the districts seeking designation; the fiscal impact on the districts seeking designation, including the impact on State aid; the adequacy of the capacity of the facilities of the districts seeking designation; and the number of miles between the federal property and the districts seeking designation and the impact of that mileage on the transportation of students, the executive county superintendent shall, within 60 days of the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), certify to the Commissioner of Education which school district shall be the designated district for the pupils who reside on the federal property who are not the dependent children of military personnel.

b. In the event that no board of education submits a resolution pursuant to subsection a. of this section, the executive county superintendent shall select a district for designation and shall certify that district to the commissioner as the designated district for the pupils who reside on the federal property who are not the dependent children of military personnel. The executive county superintendent shall base his determination on: the willingness of the designated district to accept the pupils who reside on the federal property who are not the dependent children of military personnel; the impact of the designation on the pupils residing on the federal property who are not the dependent children of military personnel and the pupils residing in the designated district; the fiscal impact on the designated district, including the impact on State aid; the adequacy of the capacity of the facilities of the designated district; and the number of miles between the federal property and the designated district and the impact of that mileage on the transportation of pupils.

c. Once the executive county superintendent has certified the designated district, the designation shall be effective for a period of 20 school years. At the end of the 20-year period, the executive county superintendent shall choose a designated district for the pupils who reside on the federal property who are not the dependent of military personnel in accordance with the provisions of this section.

4. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

P.L.1988, c.12, which became effective on April 6, 1988, authorized the executive county superintendent of schools in Monmouth County to designate a school district as the district of residence for the students who reside on federal property at the Naval Weapons Station Earle. The property on which Earle is located is within the geographic boundaries of two separate school districts. Pursuant to that law and since the 1988-89 school year, the Tinton Falls School District has provided educational services to children who reside on Earle.

This bill provides that effective July 1, 2013, the executive county superintendent of schools will designate a new district of residence for students who reside on the federal property at Naval Weapons Station Earle who are not the dependent children of military personnel. The children who are the dependent children of military personnel will continue to attend school in the Tinton Falls School District.

Under the bill's provisions, not later than 30 days after its effective date, the board of education of any school district that seeks to be designated by the executive county superintendent must adopt a resolution by a majority vote indicating an interest in the designation, and then forward the resolution to the executive county superintendent. Based on a determination of: the impact of the designation on the pupils residing on the federal property who are not the dependent children of military personnel and the pupils residing in the districts seeking designation; the fiscal impact on the districts seeking designation, including the impact on State aid; the adequacy of the capacity of the facilities of the districts seeking designation; and the number of miles between the federal property and the districts seeking designation and the impact of that mileage on the transportation of students, the executive county superintendent will certify to the Commissioner of Education, within 60 days of the bill's effective date, which school district will be the designated district for the students who reside on the federal property who are not the dependent children of military personnel. In the event that no school district submits a resolution to the executive county superintendent seeking the designation, the executive county superintendent will select a district for designation and will certify that district to the commissioner as the designated district for the students who reside on the federal property who are not the dependent children of military personnel. The executive county superintendent is to base the designation on factors enumerated above, as well as the willingness of the district to accept these students.

The bill provides that the designation made by the executive county superintendent for the students who are not the dependent children of military personnel will be effective for a period of 20 school years, and at the end of the 20-year period the executive county superintendent will again choose a designated district for those students.