Orange Board of Education explained
Orange Board of Education is a comprehensive community public school district that is headquartered in the city of Orange, in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, and serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade.[1] The district is one of 31 former Abbott districts statewide that were established pursuant to the decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court in Abbott v. Burke[2] which are now referred to as "SDA Districts" based on the requirement for the state to cover all costs for school building and renovation projects in these districts under the supervision of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority.[3] [4] The district was considered high performing as per the New Jersey Department of Education having achieved 80% and above on all indicators within the NJQSAC evaluation in June 2020.
As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of 12 schools, had an enrollment of 5,629 students and 507.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.1:1.[5]
The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "A", the lowest 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.[6]
History
In 1948 the district had a racially integrated school system with an open enrollment school system in which families could choose which schools their children could attend. In 1948 one predominately African-American school had five teachers deemed "colored".[7]
Schools
Schools in the district (with 2020–21 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[8]) are:[9] [10] [11] [12]
- Preschool
- Orange Early Childhood Center[13] (188; in PreK)
- John Robert Lewis Early Childhood Center[14] (NA; Pre-K)
- Elementary Schools
- Central Elementary School[15] (319; K-2)
- Cleveland Street School[16] (303; K-7)
- Forest Street Community School[17] (410; PreK-7)
- Yancisca Loften-Cooke, principal
- Heywood Avenue School[18] (355; PreK-7)
- Dion Patterson, principal
- Lincoln Avenue School[19] (708; K-7)
- Frank Iannucci, principal
- Oakwood Avenue Community School[20] (425; PreK-7)
- Park Avenue School[21] (569; K-7)
- Rosa Parks Central Community School[22] (999; Grades 3–7 - formerly Main Street School and Central School)
- Debra Joseph-Charles, principal
- Scholars Academy[23] (NA)
- Middle School (Secondary)
- Orange Preparatory Academy[24] (679; 8–9, formerly Orange Middle School)
- Carrie Halstead, principal
- High Schools (Secondary)
Administration
Core members of the district's administration are:[27] [28]
- Gerald Fitzhugh II, superintendent[29]
- Jason E. Ballard, board secretary and school business administrator
Board of education
The district's board of education, composed of nine members, sets policy and oversees the fiscal and educational operation of the district through its administration. Since November 2017, it is a Type II school district, in which 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 2018) 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.[30] [31] [32] In November 2016, voters approved the change from a Type I district, in which the board is appointed by the mayor, to a Type II district, in which residents vote for board members. In November 2017, the first election for the elected board took place.[33]
External links
Notes and References
- https://www.straussesmay.com/seportal/Public/DistrictPolicy.aspx?policyid=0110&id=c9b1aec93259447b8b1f420c50323b40 District Policy 0110 - Identification
- https://www.njsda.gov/About/WhatWeDo#History What We Do: History
- https://www.njsda.gov/About/WhatWeDo What We Do
- https://www.njsda.gov/Content/FactSheets/31_SDA_Districts.pdf SDA Districts
- https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/districtsearch/district_detail.asp?Search=2&details=1&ID2=3412270&DistrictID=3412270 District information for Orange Board Of Education School District
- http://www.state.nj.us/education/finance/rda/dfg.shtml NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts
- Jensen. Noma. A Survey of Segregation Practices in the New Jersey School System. The Journal of Negro Education. Winter 1948. 17. 1. 84–88. Journal of Negro Education. 2966093. - CITED: p. 86.
- https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_list.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=3412270 School Data for the Orange Board of Education
- https://www.orange.k12.nj.us/domain/1183 Our Schools
- https://www.orange.k12.nj.us/Page/210 Our Principals
- https://rc.doe.state.nj.us/selectreport/2022-2023/13/3880 School Performance Reports for the Orange Board of Education School District
- https://homeroom6.doe.state.nj.us/directory/school/districtid/3880 New Jersey School Directory for the Orange Board of Education
- https://www.orange.k12.nj.us/Domain/528 Orange Early Childhood Center
- https://www.orange.k12.nj.us/Domain/1135 John Robert Lewis Early Childhood Center
- https://www.orange.k12.nj.us/site/Default.aspx?PageID=26477 Central Elementary School
- https://www.orange.k12.nj.us/Domain/687 Cleveland Street School
- https://www.orange.k12.nj.us/Domain/764 Forest Street Community School
- https://www.orange.k12.nj.us/Domain/856 Heywood Avenue School
- https://www.orange.k12.nj.us/Domain/958 Lincoln Avenue School
- https://www.orange.k12.nj.us/Domain/1060 Oakwood Avenue School
- https://www.orange.k12.nj.us/Domain/243 Park Avenue School
- https://www.orange.k12.nj.us/Domain/558 Rosa Parks Central Community School
- https://www.orange.k12.nj.us/Domain/1625 Scholars Academy
- https://www.orange.k12.nj.us/Domain/374 Orange Preparatory Academy
- https://www.orange.k12.nj.us/Domain/83 Orange High School
- https://www.orange.k12.nj.us/Domain/2350 STEM Innovation Academy of the Oranges
- https://www.orange.k12.nj.us/Page/21542 Our Administrators
- https://homeroom6.doe.state.nj.us/directory/district/county/essex New Jersey School Directory for Essex County
- https://www.orange.k12.nj.us/domain/1180 Office of the Superintendent
- https://www.nj.gov/education/finance/fp/dwb/DistrictByTypeList2018.pdf New Jersey Boards of Education by District Election Types - 2018 School Election
- https://www.orange.k12.nj.us/Page/22775 Board of Education
- https://www.nj.gov/education/finance/fp/cafr/search/19/3880.pdf Annual Comprehensive Financial Report of the City of Orange Township School District
- Mazzola, Jessica. "Embattled N.J. town votes to elect its school board", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, November 15, 2016, updated January 16, 2019. Accessed February 3, 2021. "According to the unofficial election results from the Essex County Clerk's Office of a question on last Tuesday's ballot, more than three-quarters of voters in Orange opted to change the Board of Education in the city from one that is appointed by the mayor to one that is elected by the residents. The change will take place immediately, with the first election for the new members of the seven-member board to happen in November 2017."
