Elizabeth Public Schools

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Elizabeth Public Schools
Superintendent:Olga Hugelmeyer
Business Administrator:Harold Kennedy
Address:500 North Broad Street
Elizabeth, NJ 07208
Grade Range:K-12
School facilities:34
Enrollment:24,258 (as of 2010-11)[1]
Faculty (in FTEs):1,890.0
Student–teacher ratio:12.83:1
District Factor Group:A
Web site:http://www.elizabeth.k12.nj.us
Ind. Per Pupil District
Spending 		Rank
(*) 		K-12
Average		 %± vs.
Average
1ATotal Spending$21,56894$18,04719.5%
1Budgetary Cost17,7189614,51922.0%
2Classroom Instruction10,7001008,58824.6%
6Support Services2,738822,33817.1%
8Administrative Cost1,508711,4484.1%
10Operations & Maintenance2,532961,78741.7%
13Extracurricular Activities16015263-39.2%
16Median Teacher Salary75,3929162,707
Data from NJDoE 2013 Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending.[2]
*Of K-12 districts with more than 3,500 students. Lowest spending=1; Highest=106

Elizabeth Public Schools is a public school district headquartered in Elizabeth, in Union County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in prekindergarten through 12th grade. The district is one of 31 Abbott districts statewide,[3] 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.[4][5] The district is one of New Jersey's largest, with a culturally diverse student body coming from 50 countries and speaking more than 37 languages.[6]

As of the 2010-11 school year, the district's 34 schools had an enrollment of 24,258 students and 1,890.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.83:1.[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]

Awards, recognition and rankings

In the 2008-09 school year, Victor Mravlag Elementary School No. 21 was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education,[8] the highest award an American school can receive.[9][10] For the 2006-07 school year, William F. Halloran Alternative School #22 was one of four schools in New Jersey recognized with the Blue Ribbon Award.[11]

In 2007, Dr. Albert Einstein Academy School No. 29 became one of 24 schools selected from across the United States and the only NASA Explore School in the state of New Jersey at that time.[12]

In the 2012 Washington Post "High School Challenge", a continuation of high-school rankings formerly published in Newsweek, ranked Elizabeth High School as the best public high school in New Jersey, and the 76th-best in the United States.[13]

Schools

Schools in the district (with 2010-11 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[14]) are:[15][16]

Early childhood centers
Elementary schools
High schools[17]

Controversy

In June 2011, the Union County Prosecutor's Office was investigating charges that members of the school board gave jobs and promotions to employees in exchange for political contributions. Republican members of the New Jersey General Assembly asked for records relating to district spending for entertainment, travel, equipment and other expenditures.[18]

The Investigations Unit of the New Jersey Department of Education reviewed district practices in 2008, following a state auditor's report that undocumented aliens were being improperly hired by the district in custodial and clerical positions. The district's business administrator indicated that the district had been hiring non-citizens for math and science teaching positions due to the inability to find qualified citizens qualified to work in those positions. . Other findings had shown that $88,000 was spent by the district for what was deemed to be political advertising and that employee information had been taken from confidential files to be used for soliciting political contributions.[19]

Some other recent headlines include:

  • At least $1.5M paid out secretly by Elizabeth schools, a fraction of workers' settlements;[20]
  • Elizabeth Board of Education used taxpayer money to keep lawsuits hush-hush;[21]
  • Investigation finds Elizabeth school board pressures workers to fill campaign coffers;[22]
  • Elizabeth school officials' kids don't pay full meal costs, records show;[23]
  • Former Elizabeth Public Schools Equipment Manager Robert Firestone admitted that he conspired to defraud the school system through fraudulent business practices for his personal gain, according to the FBI and US Attorney's office.[24][25]

Administration

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

  • Olga Hugelmeyer, Superintendent
  • Harold Kennedy, Business Administrator / Board Secretary

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 District information for the Elizabeth School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed May 6, 2013.
  2. ↑ Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending April 2013, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 15, 2013.
  3. ↑ Abbott Districts, New Jersey Department of Education, backed up by the Internet Archiveas of May 15, 2009. Accessed August 14, 2012.
  4. ↑ What are SDA Districts?, New Jersey Schools Development Authority. Accessed August 14, 2012. "SDA Districts are 31 special-needs school districts throughout New Jersey. They were formerly known as Abbott Districts, based on the Abbott v. Burke case in which the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that the State must provide 100 percent funding for all school renovation and construction projects in special-needs school districts.... The districts were renamed after the elimination of the Abbott designation through passage of the state’s new School Funding Formula in January 2008."
  5. ↑ SDA Districts, New Jersey Schools Development Authority. Accessed August 14, 2012.
  6. ↑ EPS at a Glance, Elizabeth Public Schools. Accessed September 8, 2011.
  7. ↑ NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed October 27, 2009.
  8. ↑ U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Schools Program: 2008 Schools, United States Department of Education. Accessed April 13, 2011.
  9. ↑ "CIBA cited as one of the best by Education Department", Journal Inquirer, November 16, 2006. "The Blue Ribbon award is given only to schools that reach the top 10 percent of their state's testing scores over several years or show significant gains in student achievement. It is considered the highest honor a school can achieve."
  10. ↑ "Viers Mill School Wins Blue Ribbon; School Scored High on Statewide Test", The Washington Post. September 29, 2005. "For their accomplishments, all three schools this month earned the status of Blue Ribbon School, the highest honor the U.S. Education Department can bestow upon a school."
  11. ↑ No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools in 2006, United States Department of Education. Accessed April 13, 2011.
  12. ↑ Smith, Heather R. Starry-eyed, NASA. June 22, 2010. Accessed April 13, 2011.
  13. ↑ http://apps.washingtonpost.com/local/highschoolchallenge/schools/2012/list/national/
  14. ↑ School information for the Elizabeth School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed May 6, 2013.
  15. ↑ Schools, Elizabeth Public Schools. Accessed May 6, 2013.
  16. ↑ New Jersey School Directory for the Elizabeth School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed May 6, 2013.
  17. ↑ Welcome to your EHS and Academies Websites, Edison Public Schools. Accessed May 6, 2013.
  18. ↑ Sherman, Ted. "Two investigations launched into Elizabeth school board", The Star-Ledger, June 13, 2011. Accessed September 5, 2011. "The Elizabeth Board of Education has become the focus of two investigations in the wake of charges that jobs and promotions at one of the state's largest school systems were tied to political contributions.
  19. ↑ Cuozzo, Kenneth. "Elizabeth schools get state scrutiny", The Star-Ledger, May 30, 2008. Accessed September 5, 2011.
  20. ↑ "At least $1.5M paid out secretly by Elizabeth schools, a fraction of workers' settlements", The Star-Ledger, July 24, 2011.
  21. ↑ "Elizabeth Board of Education used taxpayer money to keep lawsuits hush-hush", The Star-Ledger Editorial, July 27, 2011.
  22. ↑ "Investigation finds Elizabeth school board pressures workers to fill campaign coffers", The Star-Ledger, May 22, 2011.
  23. ↑ "Elizabeth school officials' kids don't pay full meal costs, records show", The Star-Ledger, August 21, 2011.
  24. ↑ FBI press release on Robert Firestone
  25. ↑ "Former Elizabeth schools employee admits to defrauding district", The Star-Ledger, January 05, 2011.
  26. ↑ Directory, Elizabeth Public Schools. Accessed May 6, 2013.
  27. ↑ New Jersey School Directory, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed May 6, 2013.

External links

Coordinates: 40°39′49″N 74°12′41″W / 40.663509°N 74.21151°W / 40.663509; -74.21151

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