Garwood Public Schools

The Garwood Public Schools is a community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade from Garwood, in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.[3][4]

Garwood Public Schools
400 Second Avenue
, Union County, New Jersey, 07027
District information
GradesPreK to 8
SuperintendentChristopher Kinney
Business administratorBernadette Pinto
Schools1
Students and staff
Enrollment360 (as of 2022–23)[1]
Faculty31.6 FTEs[1]
Student–teacher ratio11.4:1[1]
Other information
District Factor GroupDE
Websitewww.garwoodschools.org
Ind. Per pupil District
spending
Rank
(*)
K-8
average
%± vs.
average
1ATotal Spending$17,63126$18,891−6.7%
1Budgetary Cost11,125714,159−21.4%
2Classroom Instruction6,35938,659−26.6%
6Support Services1,487102,167−31.4%
8Administrative Cost1,476191,547−4.6%
10Operations & Maintenance1,661271,6123.0%
13Extracurricular Activities1323310426.9%
16Median Teacher Salary58,8143961,136
Data from NJDoE 2014 Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending.[2]
*Of K-8 districts with up to 400 students. Lowest spending=1; Highest=71

As of the 2022–23 school year, the district, comprising one school, had an enrollment of 360 students and 31.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.4:1.[1]

The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "DE", the fifth-highest of eight groupings.[5]

Public school students in ninth through twelfth grades attend Arthur L. Johnson High School in neighboring Clark as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Clark Public School District.[6][7] As of the 2022–23 school year, the school had an enrollment of 884 students and 69.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.8:1.[8]

History edit

Garwood had been a constituent municipality of the Union County Regional High School District, together with Berkeley Heights, Clark, Kenilworth, Mountainside and Springfield Township.[9] Established in 1937, the dissolution of the district in 1997 left Garwood without its own high school, which resulted in the establishment of the sending relationship with the Clark Public School District.[10]

Schools edit

Lincoln School served 354 students for pre-kindergarten to eighth grade in the 2021–22 school year.[11]

  • Mary Emmons, principal[12]

Administration edit

Core members of the district's administration are:[12][13]

  • Christopher Kinney, superintendent
  • Bernadette Pinto, business administrator and board secretary

Board of education edit

The district's board of education, comprised of nine members, sets policy and oversees the fiscal and educational operation of the district through its administration. As a Type II school district, the board's trustees are elected directly by voters to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with three seats up for election each year held (since 2012) as part of the November general election. The board appoints a superintendent to oversee the district's day-to-day operations and a business administrator to supervise the business functions of the district.[14][15][16]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d District information for Garwood Boro, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 1, 2024.
  2. ^ Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending April 2013, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 15, 2013.
  3. ^ School Performance Reports for the Garwood Boro School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 3, 2024.
  4. ^ New Jersey School Directory, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.
  5. ^ District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 7, 2014.
  6. ^ Clark Township Public Schools 2015 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 5, 2016. "The school district educates more than 2,350 students in five buildings and enjoys a very positive and collaborative send/receive relationship with the Garwood Public Schools. Students from Garwood are educated in their local K-8 district. They subsequently attend grades 9-12 at our Arthur L. Johnson High School here in Clark."
  7. ^ About Us, Garwood Public Schools. Accessed June 5, 2016. "High school students attend ALJ High School in Clark, NJ"
  8. ^ School data for Abraham Clark High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 1, 2024.
  9. ^ In the Matter of the Dissoulution of the Union County Regional High School District No. 1, Union County, New Jersey Department of Education, decided February 5, 1997. "Union County Regional High School District No. 1 was a limited purpose regional district comprised of Berkeley Heights, Kenilworth, Mountainside, Garwood, Clark, and Springfield."
  10. ^ Hanley, Robert. "Schools Weigh Impact Of District Breakup", The New York Times, May 16, 1996. Accessed January 23, 2020. "The six towns have been fighting for the last three years about equitable financing of the regional district, and the four towns paying the highest shares of the district's $25 million annual budget out-voted the two towns with the smallest shares and decided to break up a system that has endured since 1937. The district was the first regional high school system formed in New Jersey, and now it is the first to vote to dissolve.... The district's two towns without high school buildings -- Garwood and Mountainside -- will remain kindergarten-to-eighth-grade districts and ship out their high school students.... Garwood, the staunchest foe of dissolving the district, now sends its students to Johnson High in Clark but has not decided yet whether to continue that relationship or accept an offer from Kenilworth to send them to a reopened Brearley High."
  11. ^ School Data for the Garwood Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 1, 2022.
  12. ^ a b Administration, Garwood Public Schools. Accessed February 15, 2024.
  13. ^ New Jersey School Directory for Union County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.
  14. ^ New Jersey Boards of Education by District Election Types - 2018 School Election, New Jersey Department of Education, updated February 16, 2018. Accessed January 26, 2020.
  15. ^ Annual Comprehensive Financial Report of the Borough of Garwood School District, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2022. Accessed February 15, 2024. "The Borough of Garwood School District is a Type II District located in Union County, New Jersey. The District is an instrumentality of the State of New Jersey, established to function as an educational institution. The District is governed by a nine member board elected to three-year terms and is responsible for the fiscal control of the District. A superintendent is appointed by the Board and is responsible for the administrative control of the District."
  16. ^ Board Of Education Members, Garwood Public Schools. Accessed February 15, 2024. "The Garwood Board of Education is comprised of nine elected members."

External links edit