Branchburg Township School District

The Branchburg Township School District is a community public school district serving students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade from Branchburg Township, in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States.[3]

Branchburg Township School District
Address
240 Baird Road
Branchburg, NJ 08876
United States
Coordinates40.573516°N 74.714605°W / 40.573516; -74.714605
District information
GradesPreK to 8
SuperintendentRebecca Gensel
Business administratorTheresa Linskey
Schools3
Students and staff
Enrollment1,463 (as of 2017-18)[1]
Faculty151.3 FTEs[1]
Student–teacher ratio9.7:1[1]
Other information
District Factor GroupI
Websitewww.branchburg.k12.nj.us
Ind.Per pupilDistrict
spending		Rank
(*)		K-8
average		%± vs.
average
1ATotal Spending$17,97456$18,891−4.9%
1Budgetary Cost14,9246114,1595.4%
2Classroom Instruction9,155638,6595.7%
6Support Services2,377592,1679.7%
8Administrative Cost1,747661,54712.9%
10Operations & Maintenance1,330221,612−17.5%
13Extracurricular Activities1236810418.3%
16Median Teacher Salary60,6853861,136
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 2017-18 school year, the district, comprising three schools, had an enrollment of 1,463 students and 151.3 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.7:1.[1]

The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "I", the second-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.[4]

The public secondary school serving Branchburg for ninth through twelfth grades is Somerville High School, which students attend as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Somerville Public Schools.[5][6] As of the 2017-18 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 1,165 students and 91.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.7:1.[7]

History

The sending / receiving relationship between Branchburg and Somerville was formalized in a 1956 agreement between the two districts, though Branchburg students had attended Somerville High School before that time. In 1970, the Somerville district determined that rising enrollments meant that it would no longer be able to include students from Branchburg and set 1975 as the end date for the sending relationship. Branchburg started the process of acquiring a 76-acre (31 ha) site for its own high school that could accommodate up to 950 students.[8]

In May 1971, Somerville reconsidered its planned termination of the sending arrangement and informed Branchburg that its students would still be welcome in Somerville even after the planned 1975 date. Despite the failure of a referendum to pay for a new Branchburg high school, the Branchburg district decided that it wanted to terminate the relationship, even after Somerville had reconsidered its decision. Branchburg filed a petition in 1975 with the New Jersey Department of Education seeking to terminate the send/receive agreement.[8]

Based on a report by the hearing examiner released in 1977, Commissioner of Education Fred G. Burke issued a 1978 decision that the petition be rejected based on the ability of Somerville to serve students from Branchburg with a quality high school education, the financial impact of higher per-pupil costs to both municipalities and the creation of greater racial imbalance in the Somerville district. The State Board of Education agreed with the Commissioner's decision and Branchburg's appeal to the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division was rejected in a 1980 decision.[8][9]

Schools

Schools in the district (with 2017-18 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[10]) are:[11][12][13]

Elementary schools
  • Whiton Elementary School[14] with 611 students in grades PreK-3
    • Danielle Shober, Principal
    • Kristen Kries, Vice Principal
  • Stony Brook School[15] with 342 students in grades 4–5
    • Frank Altmire, Principal
Middle school
  • Branchburg Central Middle School[16] with 501 students in grades 6–8
    • Matthew Barbosa, Principal
    • Beth Stanton, Vice Principal

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are:[17][18]

  • Rebecca Gensel, Superintendent of Schools[19]
  • Theresa Linskey, Business Administrator / Board Secretary[20]

Board of education

The district's board of education has nine members who set policy and oversee 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.[21][22]

References
  1. District information for Branchburg Township School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed November 1, 2019.
  2. Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending April 2013, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 15, 2013.
  3. Branchburg Township Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Branchburg Township School District. Accessed February 9, 2020. "Purpose: The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades K through eight in the Branchburg School District. Composition: The Branchburg School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Branchburg."
  4. NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed October 24, 2014.
  5. Somerset County School Districts-Sending/Receiving/Regional, Somerset County Superintendent of Schools. Accessed August 4, 2017. "Branchburg K-8 Grades 9-12 Sent To Somerville"
  6. Somerville Public School District 2016 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed August 4, 2017. "Somerville Public Schools provides a full range of educational services for students in preschool through grade 12 residing in Somerville Borough, and grades 9 through 12 for students residing in Branchburg Township."
  7. School data for Somerville High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed November 1, 2019.
  8. Branchburg Tp. Bd. Ed. v. Borough of Somerville Bd. Ed., Justia. Accessed December 5, 2017.
  9. Weischadle, David E. "Can Consolidation Help Our Schools?", The New York Times, April 1, 1979. Accessed December 5, 2017. "Last year, the Somerset County community of Branchburg sought to stop sending its high‐school students to the nearby Somerville district in order to build its own high school. Reminiscent of the Morris Township‐Morristown crisis of the early 1970's, the Branchburg request was denied last fall by Dr. Fred G. Burke, the state's Commissioner of Education. The denial was based partly on the fact that two small high schools would, have resulted."
  10. School Data for the Branchburg Township School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed November 1, 2019.
  11. Schools, Branchburg Township School District. Accessed February 8, 2020.
  12. 2018-2019 Somerset County Public School Directory, Somerset County, New Jersey. Accessed February 8, 2020.
  13. New Jersey School Directory for the Branchburg Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 29, 2016.
  14. Whiton Elementary School, Branchburg Township School District. Accessed February 8, 2020.
  15. Stony Brook School, Branchburg Township School District. Accessed February 8, 2020.
  16. Branchburg Central Middle School, Branchburg Township School District. Accessed February 8, 2020.
  17. District Office Directory, Branchburg Township School District. Accessed February 8, 2020.
  18. New Jersey School Directory for Somerset County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 29, 2016.
  19. Office of the Superintendent, Branchburg Township School District. Accessed February 8, 2020.
  20. Business Office, Branchburg Township School District. Accessed February 8, 2020.
  21. 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.
  22. Board of Education Members, Branchburg Township School District. Accessed February 9, 2020.
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