Janelle Irwin Taylor
The Department of Defense (DOD) has awarded an $86 million grant to the Tinker Pre-K through grade 8 school that serves children of military service members stationed at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.
The grant will fund improvements to the school’s campus, expand capacity and enhance the learning experience from kids in preschool through eighth grade.
“I am grateful to the military families, leadership at MacDill, Hillsborough County Public Schools and local advocates for working with me over the years to ensure that the Department of Defense invests in students at MacDill. We envision that the new Tinker PreK-8 School will provide students with a state-of-the-art learning environment that gives children the high-quality education they deserve in a safe and modern environment,” said U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, who announced the award.
“Our service members and their families deserve access to high-quality, reliable child care and schools, and their kids deserve to learn in a safe and healthy environment. Unfortunately, in its current state, Tinker has challenges.”
The grant represents the bulk of the entire project, a nearly $108 million plan to rebuild and expand Tinker. It will alleviate facility deficiencies that landed the school at No. 60 on the 2019 Deputy Secretary of Defense’s “Public Schools on Military Installations Priority List.” The grant will support 927 students whose parents are stationed at MacDill.
“This transformative grant is the product of over a decade of work. In 2011, Tinker was ranked 118th out of 156 schools on DoD’s priority funding list. However, through persistent advocacy and funding increases secured over time in the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Tinker moved up to 60th on the list by 2018,” Castor explained.
“Our continued efforts over the years culminated in a successful effort in 2022 to include Tinker among the top 12 schools invited to participate in the Department of Defense’s Public Schools on Military Bases Installations initiative.”
Hillsborough County Public Schools will oversee the project and ensure the school meets the highest standards for safety, accessibility and learning.
The grant is provided under the DOD’s Public Schools on Military Installations Program. In order to receive the funding, the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation was required to give priority consideration to military installations with schools facing the most serious capacity and facility condition deficiencies.
Tinker was confirmed as a priority after a multidisciplined federal evaluation team — including representatives from the Assistant Secretaries of the Air Force, Army, Navy, and the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation reviewed the school.
The program aims to ensure service members have access to quality education for their children. It also seeks to ensure positive military recruitment and retention, and enhances partnerships between military installations and the communities in which they are located.
