YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — The U.S. military wants to get a better idea of where children attend school.
U.S. Forces Japan has asked the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force to submit reports by the end of April identifying how many go to school in grades kindergarten through 12.
Officials say the policy, now in its second year, isn’t meant to discourage home schooling or off-base enrollments, but to ensure all students are accounted for. Statistics are used to assist the command and Department of Defense Dependents Schools with planning, programming and budgeting for construction, repairs, staffing, force protection and noncombatant evacuation purposes.
There is no uniform procedure for collecting information, said Marine Corps Maj. Neil Murphy, a USFJ spokesman. Each service requested and was given the autonomy to use different methods in order to get the most accurate data, he said.
The Army is the only one of the four to complete its report. “The intent is to review them all together once they are all received,” Murphy added.
Shirley Rogers, school liaison officer for Yokota’s 374th Mission Support Group, said she sent surveys out through post office mailboxes last year but the return rate was only about 33 percent.
To improve that number this time, Col. Jeff Newell, the 374th Airlift Wing commander, made it mandatory for military and civilian families at Yokota who home-school or send their children to off-base schools to register with the school liaison officer.
Parents with students in DODDS schools at Yokota do not need to check in with Rogers, she said. They’ll be counted in the same report since they’re already enrolled this year.
The reports will yield benefits, particularly for children being home-schooled, she added.
“For instance, if they’re a new home-schooler, I can get them in contact with the local home-school group on base,” Rogers said. “We can also inform them how DODDS can support their efforts, by sending them to a culture class, take a standardized test, get them in the band, or join a sports team or academic club.
“We really don’t have an idea how many kids are on base and how they’re being schooled, unless we collect the data and ask for it.”
Oversight for home schooling in America varies by state, she said. But there had never been a mechanism used by the military for tracking home schoolers or off-base enrollments.
“How accurate is it going to be? No one knows for sure,” Rogers said. “I’m hoping with lots of publicity, parents will be aware this is a requirement. Once it’s established, maybe two or three years down the road, this will become standard practice. … Each year, we hope it gets a little bit better.”
How to have your child countedYokota Air Base parents who are home schooling or sending their children off base for school are asked to respond to the school liaison office by April 15.
To request a registration form, send an e-mail to: school.liaison@yokota.af.mil. Parents also can download the form through Yokota West Elementary School’s Web site at www.ywes.pac.dodea.edu/. Click on the “Parent Information” link, then hit “Registration.”
The registration form can be submitted in person at Building 316, Room 212. Contact school liaison officer Shirley Rogers at DSN 225-3438 for more information.
For more information about School Age Accountability surveys under way at other bases in Japan, contact the school liaison officer:
Camp Zama: Jonathan Delong, DSN 263-8386Atsugi Naval Air Facility: Cmdr. James Selkirk, DSN 264-3106Sasebo Naval Base: Command Master Chief Petty Officer Robert Shannon, DSN 252-3521Yokosuka Naval Base: Ensign Shawn Kline, DSN 242-4101Iwakuni Marine Corps Air Station: M.C. Perry High School, DSN 253-5449 (ask for school liaison officer)Misawa Air Base: David Patum, DSN 226-6064On Okinawa:
