Teaneck Public Schools Explained

Teaneck Public Schools
Superintendent:Andre D. Spencer
Businessadmin:Haqquisha Q. Taylor
Address:655 Teaneck Road
Zipcode:07666
Country:United States
Coordinates:40.8871°N -74.0071°W
Schools:7
Enrollment:3,720 (as of 2019–20)
Ratio:10.7:1
Free Text:GH

The Teaneck Public Schools is comprehensive community public school district serving students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in Teaneck, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.[1]

As of the 2019–20 school year, the district, comprised of seven schools, had an enrollment of 3,720 students and 347.3 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.7:1.[2]

The district is 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, ostensibly 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.[3] However, because socioeconomic data is derived from the municipality as a whole and a significant proportion of Teaneck's more affluent families send their children to parochial or other private schools, the usefulness of District Factor Grouping in the Teaneck district's case is disputed.

Awards and recognition

The Teaneck Public Schools have been recognized by the New Jersey Department of Education as part of its Best practices program. The district was awarded in the 1997–98 school year for its Passport Portfolio Program,[4] and in the 2000–01 school year for its Early Literacy Initiative.[5]

History

Harvey B. Scribner, who later served as New York City School Chancellor, was hired in 1961 by the Teaneck Public Schools to serve as superintendent of the district. There he oversaw the adoption of mandatory busing in 1965 in which Teaneck voluntarily integrated its public schools.[6] Despite angry phone calls from some parents and the occasional death threat, Teaneck's integration went smoothly and Scribner recalled that he was "literally crying" on the first day of school in 1965 when buses rolled into school without incident.[7] Teaneck's 1965 busing plan was widely reported as the first district in the nation with a white majority to implement a voluntary school integration program.[8] [9]

A 1982 teachers strike that lasted for 19 days was settled after a judge threatened to jail striking teachers and pressured the board of education to negotiate an agreement.[10]

Schools

Schools in the district,[11] [12] [13] [14] with 2019–20 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics,[15] are:

Elementary schools
Middle schools
High school
Defunct schools

Controversy

Teaneck has received attention in the media due to sexual crimes committed against minors by faculty members. Joseph White, former principal of Teaneck High School, pleaded guilty to official child endangerment in June 2006 and was sentenced to one year in prison. White had been charged in 2002 with fondling a 17-year-old student and was subsequently acquitted.[24] James Darden, an award-winning former eighth grade teacher at Thomas Jefferson Middle School, was charged with sexual assault and misconduct in June 2007. He pleaded guilty in December 2007 to a charge of aggravated sexual assault and faces up to 8 years in prison when sentenced on January 18, 2008.[25]

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are:[26] [27]

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 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.[30] [31] [32]

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www.teaneckschools.org/Downloads/Teaneck_0000_Bylaws_051116.pdf#page=8 Teaneck Board of Education District Bylaw 0110 - Identification
  2. https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/districtsearch/district_detail.asp?Search=2&details=1&ID2=3416080&DistrictID=3416080 District information for Teaneck School District
  3. http://www.state.nj.us/education/finance/rda/dfg.shtml NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts
  4. http://www.nj.gov/cgi-bin/education/oipp/bp3.pl?string=recid=0096&maxhits=10000 New Jersey Department of Education Best Practices: Passport Portfolio Program
  5. http://www.nj.gov/cgi-bin/education/oipp/bp3.pl?string=recid=0181&maxhits=10000 New Jersey Department of Education Best Practices: Early Literacy Initiative
  6. Marks, Joan. "The Lessons of Teaneck", The New York Times, November 19, 1972. Accessed August 18, 2010.
  7. [Jayson Blair|Blair, Jayson]
  8. Staff. "Harvey Scribner", The Record, December 27, 2002. Accessed August 18, 2010. "He was a champion of school integration in Teaneck, the first community in the nation to voluntarily integrate its school system by busing."
  9. http://www.fdu.edu/newspubs/magazine/01fa/tea.html Teaneck
  10. McGrath, Ellie. "Little Room to Negotiate", Time, October 18, 1982. Accessed June 4, 2007. "There were a record 242 strikes in the 1979-80 school year. The following year there were 191; so far this fall there have been about 65. Only some 20 strikes are still in progress today, and few seem likely to continue for long. A 19-day strike ended in Teaneck, N.J., last week after State Superior Court Judge Sherwin Lester leaned on both sides. He ordered teachers back to work and, when they refused, began commandeering school buildings for use as makeshift jails to confine groups of teachers during the day. When an intransigent board of education failed to produce a quorum for a crucial bargaining session, the judge pressured board members to negotiate with the union. The final three-year settlement for the teachers represents yearly pay increases of from 7.5% to 9.7%."
  11. https://www.teaneckschools.org/SchoolListing.aspx School Listing
  12. https://web.archive.org/web/20170806100945/http://www.teaneck.org/virtualvillage/PublicSchools/index.html Teaneck Virtual Village - History of Teaneck Public Schools
  13. https://rc.doe.state.nj.us/selectreport/2022-2023/03/5150 School Performance Reports for the Teaneck Public Schools
  14. https://homeroom6.doe.state.nj.us/directory/school/districtid/5150&source=01&county=bergen New Jersey School Directory for the Teaneck Public Schools
  15. https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_list.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=3416080 School Data for the Teaneck Public Schools
  16. https://www.teaneckschools.org/bryantelementaryschool_home.aspx Bryant School
  17. https://www.teaneckschools.org/hawthorneelementaryschool_home.aspx Hawthorne School
  18. https://www.teaneckschools.org/lowellelementaryschool_home.aspx Lowell School
  19. https://www.teaneckschools.org/whittierelementaryschool_home.aspx Whittier School
  20. Web site: Reopening New Jersey: School named after civil rights icon holds grand opening ceremony. ABC 7 NY. 2020-09-18. 2020-09-21.
  21. https://www.teaneckschools.org/benjaminfranklinmiddleschool_home.aspx Benjamin Franklin Middle School
  22. https://www.teaneckschools.org/thomasjeffersonmiddleschool_home.aspx Thomas Jefferson Middle School
  23. https://www.teaneckschools.org/teaneckhighschool_home.aspx Teaneck High School
  24. Markos, Kibret. "Ex-principal in Teaneck gets 1 year", The Record, November 3, 2007. Accessed December 24, 2007.
  25. Markos, Kibret. "Teaneck teacher admits classroom sex with student", The Record, December 18, 2007. Accessed December 24, 2007.
  26. https://www.teaneckschools.org/DistrictAdministration.aspx District Administration
  27. https://homeroom6.doe.state.nj.us/directory/district/county/bergen New Jersey School Directory for Bergen County
  28. https://www.teaneckschools.org/SuperintendentsOffice.aspx Superintendent's Office
  29. https://www.teaneckschools.org/BusinessOffice.aspx Business Office
  30. https://www.nj.gov/education/finance/fp/dwb/DistrictByTypeList2018.pdf New Jersey Boards of Education by District Election Types - 2018 School Election
  31. https://www.nj.gov/education/finance/fp/cafr/search/19/5150.pdf#page=53 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report of the Township of Teaneck School District
  32. https://www.teaneckschools.org/boardofeducation.aspx Board Members

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Teaneck Public Schools".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.