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:

2. 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 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] 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. By July 1, 2016, the executive county superintendent of schools shall identify school districts that may be willing to be certified as the new designated district for the pupils who reside on the federal property, and shall solicit the submission of proposals for certification from those districts. The proposal shall include information on: the impact of the designation on the pupils who reside on the federal property and the pupils residing in the district seeking the designation; the fiscal impact on the district seeking the designation, including the impact on State aid; the adequacy of the capacity of the facilities of the district seeking the designation; the number of miles between the federal property and the district seeking the designation and the impact of that mileage on the transportation of students; and such other information as the executive county superintendent of schools deems necessary.

b. Based on the proposals submitted pursuant to subsection a. of this section, the executive county superintendent of schools may determine to select a new designated district for the pupils who reside on the federal property. In the event that the executive county superintendent makes that determination, the board of education of that school district shall adopt a resolution by majority vote of its members indicating its interest and shall forward the resolution to the executive county superintendent. The executive county superintendent may then certify the district to the commissioner as the designated district for the pupils who reside on the federal property.

c. In the event that the executive county superintendent certifies a designated district pursuant to this section, the designation shall be effective for a period of 20 school years.

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 by July 1, 2016, the executive county superintendent of schools will identify school districts that may be willing to be certified as the new designated district for the pupils who reside on the federal property, and will solicit the submission of proposals for certification from those districts. The proposal must include information on: the impact of the designation on the pupils who reside on the federal property and the pupils residing in the district seeking the designation; the fiscal impact on the district seeking the designation, including the impact on State aid; the adequacy of the capacity of the facilities of the district seeking the designation; the number of miles between the federal property and the district seeking the designation and the impact of that mileage on the transportation of students; and any other information the executive county superintendent of schools deems necessary.

Based on the submitted proposals, the executive county superintendent may determine to select a new designated district. In the event that he makes that determination, the board of education of the school district will adopt a resolution indicating its interest and forward the resolution to the executive county superintendent. The superintendent may then certify the district to the Commissioner of Education as the designated district. If the superintendent makes a designation, the designation will be effective for a period of 20 school years.