Great Meadows Regional School District Explained
The Great Meadows Regional School District is a regional public school district in Warren County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, that serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade from Independence and Liberty townships.[1] [2] The New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division blocked a 2007 effort by Liberty Township to leave the Great Meadows district based on Liberty's greater share of district costs, with the court citing the inability of the two communities to provide an efficient education separately.[3]
As of the 2021–22 school year, the district, comprising two schools, had an enrollment of 643 students and 59.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.9:1.[4]
The district was classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "GH", the third-highest of eight groupings. 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.[5]
Students attending public school for ninth through twelfth grades attend Hackettstown High School which serves students from Hackettstown, along with students from the townships of Allamuchy and Liberty, as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Hackettstown School District.[6] As of the 2021–22 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 869 students and 67.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.0:1.[7]
In 2019, in the wake of declining enrollment and state aid, the district announced that it would close Liberty Elementary School to consolidate into the two other schools located on a single campus.[8]
Schools
Schools in the district (with 2021–22 school year enrollment from the National Center for Education Statistics[9]) are:[10] [11] [12]
- Elementary schools
- Central Elementary School[13] with 302 students in grades PreK-3
- Samantha Westberg, principal[14]
- Middle school
- Great Meadows Middle School[15] with 337 students in grades 4-8
- Wendy Flynn, principal[16]
Administration
Core members of the district's administration are:[17] [18]
- Michael Mai, superintendent
- Amanda Kinney, business administrator and board secretary
Board of education
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 2013) 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.[19] [20] Seats on the board of education are allocated based on the population of the constituent municipalities, with six from Independence Township and three from Liberty Township, who are elected to office on a staggered basis with one seat from Liberty Township and two from Independence Township up for election each year.[21] A member represents the Board on the Hackettstown Board of Education to deal with issues pertaining to Hackettstown High School and the Hackettstown School District.
External links
Notes and References
- https://www.straussesmay.com/seportal/Public/DistrictPolicy.aspx?policyid=0110&id=009a79dcf8674dddb756b02dc07e6c8e Great Meadows Regional Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification
- http://www.nj.gov/education/pr/1314/narrative/41/1785/41-1785-000.html Great Meadows Regional School District 2014 Report Card Narrative
- Novak, Stephen J. "State court says Liberty Township cannot withdraw from Great Meadows school district", The Express-Times, April 2, 2009. Accessed June 6, 2013. "Formed in 1993, Great Meadows has three schools: Liberty Elementary, Independence Township Central School and Great Meadows Regional Middle School. Both townships send students to Hackettstown High School for grades nine through 12. Liberty Township sought to break from Independence Township in 2004 after a contentious budget season."
- https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/districtsearch/district_detail.asp?Search=2&details=1&ID2=3400008&DistrictID=3400008 District information for Great Meadows Regional School District
- http://www.state.nj.us/education/finance/rda/dfg.shtml NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts
- http://www.nj.gov/education/pr/2013/narrative/41/1870/41-1870-050.html Hackettstown High School 2013 Report Card Narrative
- https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=3406300&ID=340630005814 School data for Hackettstown High School
- Novak, Steve. "Great Meadows is closing an elementary school. A petition wants them to reconsider which one.", The Express-Times, May 2, 2019. Accessed October 4, 2023. "The Great Meadows Regional School District decided in March that Liberty Elementary in Liberty Township should be the one to shut down at the end of the school year. Its 207 students will instead go the district’s other elementary school three miles away. That school, Central Elementary, shares a campus with the district’s middle school in Independence Township.... Great Meadows has contemplated streamlining its facilities since at least 2017, when declining enrollment and tax revenue led to studies of its operations, according to Superintendent David Mango, whom the district shares with neighboring Hackettstown. It became more urgent when the state recently proposed aid cuts, Mango said in a December newsletter."
- https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_list.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=3400008 School Data for the Great Meadows Regional School District
- https://www.warrencountynj.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/7559/638308166139700000#page=13 2023–2024 Public School Directory
- https://rc.doe.state.nj.us/selectreport/2022-2023/41/1785 School Performance Reports for the Great Meadows Regional School District
- https://homeroom6.doe.state.nj.us/directory/school/districtid/1785 New Jersey School Directory for the Great Meadows Regional School District
- https://www.gmrsd.com/Domain/39 Central Elementary School
- https://www.gmrsd.com/cms/lib/NJ01001526/Centricity/Domain/164/Welcome%20Packet%20Cover%20Letter.pdf Welcome Packet Cover Letter
- https://www.gmrsd.com/Domain/71 Great Meadows Middle School
- https://www.gmrsd.com/domain/170 Principal's Message
- https://www.gmrsd.com/Page/1680 District Business Office Staff Directory
- https://homeroom6.doe.state.nj.us/directory/district/county/warren New Jersey School Directory for Warren County
- https://www.nj.gov/education/finance/fp/dwb/DistrictByTypeList2018.pdf New Jersey Boards of Education by District Election Types - 2018 School Election
- https://www.nj.gov/education/finance/fp/acfr/search/23/1785.pdf#page=44 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report of the Great Meadows Regional School District
- https://www.gmrsd.com/domain/3 Board of Education Members
