Stafford Township School District

The Stafford Township School District is a community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade from Stafford Township, in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States.[3]

Stafford Township School District
Address
775 East Bay Avenue
Manahawkin, NJ 08050
United States
Coordinates39.683342°N 74.233088°W / 39.683342; -74.233088
District information
GradesPreK to 6
SuperintendentGeorge Chidiac
Business administratorLourdes LaGuardia
Schools5
Students and staff
Enrollment2,198 (as of 2018–19)[1]
Faculty190.0 FTEs[1]
Student–teacher ratio11.6:1[1]
Other information
District Factor GroupDE
Websitewww.staffordschools.org
Ind.Per pupilDistrict
spending		Rank
(*)		K-6
average		%± vs.
average
1ATotal Spending$18,80740$18,891−0.4%
1Budgetary Cost14,0902813,6493.2%
2Classroom Instruction8,325208,366−0.5%
6Support Services2,511392,16116.2%
8Administrative Cost1,335151,467−9.0%
10Operations & Maintenance1,752391,55212.9%
16Median Teacher Salary56,0332657,437
Data from NJDoE 2014 Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending.[2]
*Of K-6 districts with any number of students. Lowest spending=1; Highest=59

As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprising five schools, had an enrollment of 2,198 students and 190.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.6:1.[1]

The district participates in the Interdistrict Public School Choice Program, having been approved in July 2002 to participate in the program.[4] Seats in the program for non-resident students are specified by the district and are allocated by lottery, with tuition paid for participating students by the New Jersey Department of Education.[5][6]

The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "DE", the fifth-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.[7]

For seventh through twelfth grades, public school students are served by the Southern Regional School District, which serves the five municipalities in the Long Beach Island Consolidated School District — Barnegat Light, Harvey Cedars, Long Beach Township, Ship Bottom and Surf City — along with students from Beach Haven and Stafford Township, together with students from Ocean Township who attend as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Ocean Township School District.[8][9] Schools in the district (with 2018–19 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[10]) are Southern Regional Middle School[11] with 934 students in grades 7–8 and Southern Regional High School[12] with 1,952 students in grades 9–12.[13] Both schools are in the Manahawkin section of Stafford Township.

At the time of its founding in 1957, the Southern Regional School District had a roughly equal number of students from Long Beach Island and Stafford Township. By 2016, the overwhelming majority of students were from Stafford Township, accounting for nearly 90% of enrollment. These demographic changes have led to significant discrepancies in the cost per pupil sent to the district from each community, with Harvey Cedars and Long Beach Township paying more than $200,000 per pupil, while Stafford Township's costs are $3,600 for each student. These widely different costs result from a formula that uses the taxable property value in each municipality to apportion costs, which means that municipalities with relatively high property values and small numbers of students pay a higher share of total district costs. Some residents of Long Beach Island communities are seeking to amend the formula to take advantage of a 1993 law that allows districts to use both property value and enrollment to allocate property taxes, though that would require passage of referendums in each municipality.[14]

Also located in Manahawkin is the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science. It is located within a quarter mile of Southern Regional High School. MATES is a comprehensive and challenging career high school. It is part of the Ocean County Vocational Technical School.

Schools

Schools in the district (with 2018–19 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[15]) are:[16][17][18]

Preschool
  • Oxycocus School[19] with 178 students in pre-kindergarten)
    • William Wilkinson, Principal
  • Ronald L. Meinders Primary Learning Center[20] with 274 students in kindergarten
    • Dawn Reo, Principal
Elementary schools
  • Ocean Acres Elementary School[21] with 527 students in grades 1 and 2
    • Susan D'Alessandro, Principal
  • McKinley Avenue Elementary School[22] with 570 students in grades 3 and 4
    • Margaret Hoffman, Principal
Intermediate school
  • Stafford Intermediate School[23] with 651 students in grades 5 and 6
    • Sean Reilly, Principal

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are:[24][25]

  • George Chidiac, Superintendent
  • Lourdes LaGuardia, Business Administrator / Board Secretary

Board of education

The district's board of education, with 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 day-to-day operation of the district.[24][26][27]

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gollark: A lot of sciency things *are* also pretty soundly demonstrated at this point, even if some aren't.
gollark: That seems... kind of bizarre?
gollark: Sure?
gollark: It's fine if you get things wrong, as long as you do not blindly insist you're not wrong when you are.

References
  1. District information for Stafford Township School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 1, 2020.
  2. Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending April 2013, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 15, 2013.
  3. Stafford Township Board of Education District Bylaw 0110 - Identification, Stafford Township School District Accessed June 16, 2020. "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 six in the Stafford Township School District. Composition: The Stafford Township School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Stafford Township."
  4. Interdistrict Public School Choice Program: Approved Choice Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 16, 2020.
  5. Interdistrict Public School Choice Program, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 16, 2020.
  6. Public School Choice Program, Stafford Township School District. Accessed June 16, 2020. "Students from other public schools are welcome to apply to attend Stafford Township Schools for grades K through 6 for the 2020-2021 school year."
  7. NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed January 25, 2015.
  8. Southern Regional High School 2015 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 16, 2020. "Located in Manahawkin, the Southern Regional School District draws from the constituent districts of Long Beach Township, Beach Haven, Surf City, Ship Bottom, Barnegat Light, Harvey Cedars and Stafford Township, as well as the tuition sending district of Ocean Township (Waretown).
  9. About Us, Southern Regional School District. Accessed January 20, 2020. "Our school is a 7-12 comprehensive regional high school district. Our middle school covers grades 7-8 and our high school covers grades 9-12. The district is comprised of the constituent members of Stafford Township, Beach Haven, Long Beach Township, (which includes the municipalities of Loveladies, North Beach, High Bar Harbor and Brant Beach and Long Beach Township) Barnegat Light, Harvey Cedars, Ship Bottom, and Surf City. Waretown is our sending district."
  10. School Data for the Southern Regional School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 1, 2020.
  11. Southern Regional Middle School, Southern Regional School District. Accessed January 20, 2020.
  12. Southern Regional High School, Southern Regional School District. Accessed January 20, 2020.
  13. New Jersey School Directory for the Southern Regional School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 29, 2016.
  14. Brody, Leslie. "Regional Schools' Uneven Per-Pupil Costs Get Scrutiny; In some areas of New Jersey, towns pay far more than others, per student, for the same education", The Wall Street Journal, February 1, 2016. Accessed January 31, 2017. "Back when the Southern Regional district opened in 1957, there were almost as many students from Long Beach Island as Stafford. 'I don't think anybody saw the demographics would change as drastically as they did,' Mr. Henry says. Now 263 students from Long Beach Island attend the district for grades seven through 12, along with 2,263 from Stafford, according to data the state uses to calculate payments."
  15. School Data for the Stafford Township School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 1, 2020.
  16. Directions, Stafford Township School District. Accessed June 16, 2020.
  17. Public Schools Directory 2019-2020; Living & Learning in Ocean County, Ocean County, New Jersey. Accessed June 16, 2020.
  18. New Jersey School Directory for Stafford Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 29, 2016.
  19. Oxycocus School, Stafford Township School District. Accessed June 16, 2020.
  20. Ronald L. Meinders Primary Learning Center, Stafford Township School District. Accessed June 16, 2020.
  21. Ocean Acres Elementary School, Stafford Township School District. Accessed June 16, 2020.
  22. McKinley Avenue Elementary School, Stafford Township School District. Accessed June 16, 2020.
  23. Stafford Intermediate School, Stafford Township School District. Accessed June 16, 2020.
  24. Board of Education Members, Stafford Township School District. Accessed June 16, 2020. "Our nine member Board of Education is an elected body comprised of residents of Stafford Township. As Board members, they establish policies and oversight for the Stafford Township School District. Board members fulfill three-year terms and serve the residents and children of Stafford Township without pay."
  25. New Jersey School Directory for Ocean County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 29, 2016.
  26. 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.
  27. Comprehensive Annual Financial Report of the Stafford Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2019. Accessed June 16, 2020. "The District is an instrumentality of the State of New Jersey, established to function as an educational institution. The Board consists of elected officials 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. The purpose of the district is to educate students in grades K-6. The District operates three elementary schools and one intermediate school located in Manahawkin. Stafford Township is a member of the Southern Regional School District for Grades 7-12."
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