Prospect Park School District

The Prospect Park School District is a community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade from Prospect Park, in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.[3][4] Its only school, Prospect Park Elementary School, has expanded multiple times to accommodate its growing student body, including a $1.5 million preschool expansion completed in 2012.[5]

Prospect Park School District
Address
290 North 8th Street
Prospect Park
, Passaic County, New Jersey, 07508
United States
Coordinates40.933179°N 74.172362°W / 40.933179; -74.172362
District information
GradesPreK-8
SuperintendentDr. Tyeshia Reels
Business administratorMelissa Simmons (interim)
Schools1
Students and staff
Enrollment816 (as of 2021–22)[1]
Faculty64.0 FTEs[1]
Student–teacher ratio12.75:1[1]
Other information
District Factor GroupB
Websitewww.prospectparknj.com
Ind.Per pupilDistrict
spending		Rank
(*)		K-8
average		 %± vs.
average
1ATotal Spending$15,23713$18,891−19.3%
1Budgetary Cost11,9041414,159−15.9%
2Classroom Instruction7,662188,659−11.5%
6Support Services1,545122,167−28.7%
8Administrative Cost1,511361,547−2.3%
10Operations & Maintenance1,12171,612−30.5%
13Extracurricular Activities41104−96.2%
16Median Teacher Salary61,8504861,136
Data from NJDoE 2014 Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending.[2]
*Of K-8 districts with more than 750 students. Lowest spending=1; Highest=84

As of the 2019–20 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 878 students and 64.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.7:1.[1]

The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "B", the second 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]

For ninth through twelfth grades, public school students attend Manchester Regional High School, which also serves students from Haledon and North Haledon.[7] The school is located in Haledon. The district participates in the Interdistrict Public School Choice Program, which allows non-resident students to attend the district's schools without cost to their parents, with tuition paid by the state. Available slots are announced annually by grade.[8] As of the 2019–20 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 796 students and 64.4 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.4:1.[9]

As of the 2014-15 school year, Prospect Park's share of funding for the Manchester had more than doubled in the previous decade, with property taxes for the regional district rising nearly $700 on the average home in the previous two years after a 2013 change by the commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education to the district's funding formula that allocated costs with half based on enrollment and half based on valuation, a formula that benefited North Haledon. Haledon and Prospect Park had argued that property valuation should be the basis for assessing district taxes, while North Haledon, with the largest property valuation, had argued that funding should be based exclusively on enrollment.[10]

School

Prospect Park Elementary School had an enrollment of 859 students as of the 2019–20 school year.[11] The school population was made up of Hispanic (54%), White (22%), Black (22%), and Other (2%).[12]

  • Dr. Tyeshia Reels, principal and superintendent [13]
  • Mrs. Catherine D’Arrigo, vice principal and director of special services
  • Dr. Erin Stinson-Gaudio, director of curriculum and instruction

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are:[13][14]

  • Dr. Tyeshia A. Reels, superintendent
  • Melissa Simmons, interim school business administrator and board secretary

Board of education

The district's board of education, comprised of seven 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 either two or 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.[15][16][17]

References
  1. District information for Prospect Park Public School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 1, 2021.
  2. Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending April 2013, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 15, 2013.
  3. Passaic County 2022–23 Public School Directory, Passaic County, New Jersey. Accessed June 1, 2023.
  4. Prospect Park Public School District School Performance Reports, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed January 17, 2022.
  5. Zaremba, Justin. "Wing to be dedicated to late Prospect Park Superintendent", The Gazette (Hawthorne edition), January 26, 2012. Accessed March 19, 2017. "The dedication of the new preschool expansion at Prospect Park School 1 was delayed last week due to concerns about weather conditions.... Magura, who was a member of the board that helmed the project, said most of the $1.5 million project was covered by state grants which provided funding for projects focused on improving facilities for children with special needs."
  6. NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 8, 2014.
  7. Passaic County-Manchester Regional High School 2015 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed May 30, 2016. "Manchester Regional High School (MRHS) serves 903 students from the Passaic County boroughs of Haledon, North Haledon and Prospect Park. It is also one of only two Interdistrict Public Choice Schools in the county providing a quality college preparatory curriculum to students outside the district who want to avail themselves of this program. One hundred four students from Essex, Bergen and Passaic Counties are enrolled at the school."
  8. Interdistrict Public School Choice: Approved Choice Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 5, 2008.
  9. School data for Passaic County-Manchester Regional High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 1, 2021.
  10. Park, Minjae. "Prospect Park residents appeal to lawmakers for more school aid for Manchester Regional", The Record, March 18, 2015. Accessed March 22, 2015. "At the court's order, the state commissioner of education created a new funding formula based one-third on enrollment and two-thirds on property values. North Haledon appealed and an administrative law judge in 2011 ordered the commissioner to create a new formula, recommending it be based two-thirds on enrollment and one-third on property values. Instead, Cerf in 2003 divided the burden 50-50 between enrollment and tax base, satisfying none of the boroughs."
  11. School Data for the Prospect Park Elementary School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 6, 2020.
  12. Welcome to Our School, Prospect Park School District. Accessed June 5, 2008.
  13. Administration, Prospect Park School District. Accessed August 28, 2022.
  14. New Jersey School Directory for Passaic County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 27, 2016.
  15. 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.
  16. Board Members, Prospect Park School District. Accessed April 6, 2020.
  17. Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the Prospect Park School District, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2020. Accessed January 17, 2022. "The Board of Education ('Board') of the Borough of Prospect School District ('District') is an instrumentality of the State of New Jersey, established to function as an educational institution. The Borough of Prospect Park School District is a Type II district located in the County of Passaic, State of New Jersey. As a Type II district, the School District functions independently through a Board of Education. The board is comprised of seven members elected to three-year terms. The purpose of the District is to educate students in grades K-8. A superintendent is appointed by the Board and is responsible for the administrative control of the District."
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