New Brunswick Public Schools

New Brunswick Public Schools is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in New Brunswick, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.^[3] 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^[4] 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.^[5][6]

New Brunswick Public Schools
Address
268 Baldwin Street New Brunswick , Middlesex County, New Jersey, 08901 United States
Coordinates	40°29′41″N 74°26′38″W / 40.494759°N 74.443764°W / 40.494759; -74.443764
District information
Grades	PreK to 12
Superintendent	Aubrey A. Johnson
Business administrator	Dorenia Villalona
Schools	12
Affiliation(s)	Former Abbott district
Students and staff
Enrollment	9,690 (as of 2022–23)^[1]
Faculty	777.4 FTEs^[1]
Student–teacher ratio	12.5:1^[1]
Other information
District Factor Group	A
Website	www.nbpschools.net
Ind. Per pupil District spending Rank (*) K-12 average %± vs. average 1A Total Spending $22,586 93 $18,891 19.6% 1 Budgetary Cost 17,592 96 14,783 19.0% 2 Classroom Instruction 10,181 94 8,763 16.2% 6 Support Services 2,952 88 2,392 23.4% 8 Administrative Cost 1,588 73 1,485 6.9% 10 Operations & Maintenance 2,686 97 1,783 50.6% 13 Extracurricular Activities 123 6 268 −54.1% 16 Median Teacher Salary 65,262 55 64,043 Data from NJDoE 2014 Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending.^[2] *Of K-12 districts with more than 3,500 students. Lowest spending=1; Highest=103

As of the 2022–23 school year, the district, comprising 12 schools, had an enrollment of 9,690 students and 777.4 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.5:1.^[1]

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.^[7]

History

The Blanquita B. Valenti Community School, named for the first Hispanic resident to serve on the board of education and on the city council, was constructed at a cost of $55  million and opened in September 2023.^[8]

Schools

Schools in the district (with 2022–23 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics^[9]) are:^{[10][11][12][13]}

Elementary schools

• Lincoln Elementary School^[14] (578; K-4)
  • JoAnn Kocis, principal
• Livingston Elementary School^[15] (342; K-5)
  • Nadine Sanchez, principal
• Lord Stirling Elementary School^[16] (490; PreK-5)
  • Ellen Treadway, principal
• McKinley Community Elementary School^[17] (640; PreK-8)
  • Janene M. Rodriguez, principal
  • Kevin Jarido, interim principal
• A. Chester Redshaw Elementary School^[18] (784; PreK-5)
  • Iris Castillo, principal
• Paul Robeson Community School For The Arts^[19] (665; K-8)
  • Violet Robinson, principal
• Roosevelt Elementary School^[20] (609; K-5)
  • Gisela Ciancia, principal
• Blanquita B. Valenti Community School^[21] (opened 2023-24: 569 in grades 4-8)
  • Ellen Treadway, principal
• Woodrow Wilson Elementary School^[22] (373; PreK-8)
  • William Smith, principal

Middle school

• New Brunswick Middle School^[23] (1,259; 6-8)
  • Georgette Gonzalez Lugo, principal

High schools

• New Brunswick High School^[24] (2,477; 9-12)
  • Kenneth Redler, principal
• New Brunswick Adult High School (102; 9-12)
• New Brunswick Health Sciences Technology High School^[25] (NA; 9-12)
  • Jeremiah Clifford, principal
• New Brunswick P-TECH^[26][27] (NA; 9-12)
  • Michael W. Fanelli, principal

Other schools

• New Brunswick Adult Learning Center^[28]
  • Tim Timberlake, principal

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are:^[29]

• Aubrey A. Johnson, superintendent^[30]
• Dorenia Villalona, business administrator and board secretary^[31]

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. 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 as part of the April school 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.^[32] Of the nearly 600 school districts statewide, New Brunswick is one of 12 districts with school elections in April, in which voters also decide on passage of the annual school budget.^[33][34][35]

Before 2012, New Brunswick was a Type I district, where the members of the board of education were appointed by the city's mayor.^[36]

Notes

References

1. District information for New Brunswick School District, 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. New Brunswick Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, New Brunswick Public Schools. Accessed February 19, 2024. "Purpose: The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades Pre-Kindergarten through twelve and Adult Education in the New Brunswick School District. Composition: The New Brunswick School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of the City of New Brunswick."
4. What We Do: History, New Jersey Schools Development Authority. Accessed March 1, 2022. "In 1998, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in the Abbott v. Burke case that the State must provide 100 percent funding for all school renovation and construction projects in special-needs school districts. According to the Court, aging, unsafe and overcrowded buildings prevented children from receiving the "thorough and efficient" education required under the New Jersey Constitution.... Full funding for approved projects was authorized for the 31 special-needs districts, known as 'Abbott Districts'."
5. What We Do, New Jersey Schools Development Authority. Accessed March 1, 2022.
6. SDA Districts, New Jersey Schools Development Authority. Accessed March 1, 2022.
7. NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed January 11, 2015.
8. "New Blanquita B. Valenti Community School Opens with Fanfare", New Brunswick, New Jersey, September 8, 2023. Accessed February 19, 2024. "The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Blanquita B. Valenti Community School, 50 Jersey Ave., marked the beginning of a new era in education in the City. The $55 million school, named after the trailblazing Latina leader, will shape the minds of countless young students for generations to come.... The three-story, state-of-the-art school opened its doors to approximately 800 students in grades K-8.... The Valenti School is named after the late Blanquita B. Valenti, the first person of Latin American descent to serve on the New Brunswick City Council, Board of Education and Middlesex County Board of Freeholders (now known as Commissioners) who died weeks before the groundbreaking ceremony in May 2021."
9. School Data for the New Brunswick Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 1, 2024.
10. Contact our district, New Brunswick Public Schools. Accessed February 19, 2024.
11. School Map, New Brunswick Public Schools. Accessed February 19, 2024.
12. School Performance Reports for the New Brunswick School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 3, 2024.
13. New Jersey School Directory for the New Brunswick Public Schools, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.
14. Lincoln Elementary School, New Brunswick Public Schools. Accessed February 19, 2024.
15. Livingston Elementary School, New Brunswick Public Schools. Accessed February 19, 2024.
16. Lord Stirling Elementary School, New Brunswick Public Schools. Accessed February 19, 2024.
17. McKinley Community Elementary School, New Brunswick Public Schools. Accessed February 19, 2024.
18. A. Chester Redshaw Elementary School, New Brunswick Public Schools. Accessed February 19, 2024.
19. Paul Robeson Community School For The Arts, New Brunswick Public Schools. Accessed February 19, 2024.
20. Roosevelt Elementary School, New Brunswick Public Schools. Accessed February 19, 2024.
21. Blanquita B. Valenti Community School, New Brunswick Public Schools. Accessed February 19, 2024.
22. Woodrow Wilson Elementary School, New Brunswick Public Schools. Accessed February 19, 2024.
23. New Brunswick Middle School, New Brunswick Public Schools. Accessed February 19, 2024.
24. New Brunswick High School, New Brunswick Public Schools. Accessed February 19, 2024.
25. Health Sciences Technology High School, New Brunswick Public Schools. Accessed February 19, 2024.
26. New Brunswick P-TECH New Brunswick Public Schools. Accessed August 7, 2019.
27. Anand, Akash. Warehouse School Will Soon Be Home to P-TECH Pilot Program New Brunswick Today. Accessed August 7, 2019.
28. New Brunswick Adult Learning Center New Brunswick Public Schools. Accessed August 7, 2019.
29. New Jersey School Directory for Middlesex County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.
30. Office of the Superintendent, New Brunswick Public Schools. Accessed February 19, 2024.
31. Business Office, New Brunswick Public Schools. Accessed February 19, 2024.
32. Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the New Brunswick School District, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2023. Accessed February 19, 2024. "The New Brunswick Board of Education (the "Board") is a Type II District located in the County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey. As a Type II School District, the members are elected on the first Tuesday in November each year to varying terms. The New Brunswick Board of Education had an approximate enrollment at June 30, 2023 of 9,160 students. A reporting entity is comprised of the primary government, component units, and other organizations that are included to insure that the financial statements of the School District are not misleading."
33. Sportelli, Albina. "Your guide to North Jersey spring school board elections", The Record, April 14, 2023. Accessed March 15, 2024. "Of New Jersey's almost 600 school districts, only 12 have elections in April, the rest have opted to hold theirs in November.... Schools that have kept elections in the spring, or switched back after moving them to November, are: Cliffside Park, Fairview, Passaic, Totowa, Fredon, Montague, Irvington, Newark, North Bergen, Weehawken, West New York and New Brunswick."
34. 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.
35. Board of Education Members, New Brunswick Public Schools. Accessed April 7, 2020.
36. Kratovil, Charlie. "Three Seats on New Brunswick School Board Up For Election; Deadline For Candidates to Get on Ballot is February 29, Incumbents Are Running", New Brunswick Today, February 17, 2016. Accessed August 29, 2017. "New Brunswick is the only community in Middlesex County that holds its school elections in April, separate from the partisan political offices elected in November's 'general' election.... The city switched from a Board of Education (BOE) appointed by the Mayor to an elected school board in 2012, and the annual elections were scheduled in April by default."

External links

• New Brunswick Public Schools
• School Performance Reports for the New Brunswick Public Schools, New Jersey Department of Education
• School Data for the New Brunswick Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics