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Patch •

200+ NJ School Jobs To Be Axed, Despite $44.7M In Last-Ditch State Aid

More than 200 school positions are on the chopping block, spanning from Essex to Cape May counties. The cuts will affect teachers from elementary to high schools, as well as administrative jobs like principals, clerks, aides, custodians, security guards and more. Murphy noted earlier this year the upcoming school year’s budget will be the single largest investment into public education in state history, and would fully fund the state’s school funding formula for the first time. That formula was
Patch •

PA Schools Calling Police At Record Rate: See Complete Breakdown

Pennsylvania public schools called police 16,850 times during the 2022-23 school year, a 10 percent increase in calls from the year prior and more than a 13 percent increase since 2018-19 (the last full year before the pandemic), according to the latest PA School Discipline Report released by the Department of Education. The latest report saw 238,694 total disciplinary incidents, including 2,901 possession of a weapon incidents, 5,498 possession/use of a controlled substance incidents, 2,222 bul
Patch •

NJ Schools Calling Police At Record Rate: See Complete Breakdown

NEW JERSEY — Authorities are being called to New Jersey schools at record rates, according to a Patch analysis of school police notification data.

New Jersey public schools called police 9,637 times during the 2022-23 school year, a 21 increase in calls from the year prior and more than a 23.5 percent increase since 2018-19 (the last full year before the pandemic), according to the latest School Performance Report released by the Department of Education last month. The latest report saw 2,743 c
Patch •

School Layoffs, Sport Program Cuts May Be Avoided Under 2 New Laws

The new measures seek to boost funding for the 140 school districts facing state aid cuts — some in the double digits — announced in February. As a result of budget shortfalls, some districts considered raising taxes, hiring freezes and paused renovation plans. Read more: Job Cuts, 'Ridiculous' Class Sizes, Sports Nixed: NJ Schools Face Budget Woes “This additional funding and the flexibility permitted will help districts to address staffing issues and other problems created by current funding s
Patch •

Job Cuts, 'Ridiculous' Class Sizes, Sports Nixed: NJ Schools Face Budget Woes

By eliminating 368 staff positions and pushing class sizes up to 60 or more students, according to Toms River Regional School District Superintendent Michael Citta. The school district of roughly 14,500 pupils already reached an agreement to sell 17 acres of land to Toms River Township to help fill a hole in the district's budget last year, though Citta warned the district would face a far worse problem in 2024-25.

"It has been a rough couple of weeks," Citta told the district's Board of Educat
Patch •

New NJ School Performance Reports Released: See District Rankings

The New Jersey Department of Education released the latest School Performance Report this week, with school districts scored from 0 to 100 based on factors like standardized test scores, student academic growth and graduation rates, among other metrics. Some measures, like academic growth, are now included in reports again after the Department of Education canceled statewide assessments in 2019-20 and 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The data shows a 91.1 percent four-year graduation rate (
Patch •

How Segregated Is Your NJ School? See District Breakdown

NEW JERSEY - More than 130 of about 700 Garden State K-12 school districts are considered segregated with at least 80 percent of students of one race, and 41 school districts with at least 90 percent of students of one race, according to a Patch analysis.

The school districts span from Bergen to Cape May counties and consist of 103 majority-white schools, 15 majority-Black schools and 25 majority-Hispanic schools, according to 2022-23 enrollment data released by the New Jersey Department of Edu
Patch •

New NJ Bill Would Protect Librarians Amid U.S. Book Ban Push

Dubbed the “Freedom to Read Act,” S2421 was introduced last month by primary sponsors Sens. Andrew Swicker (NJ-16) and Teresa Ruiz (NJ-29). The bill would require school and public library boards to create policies regarding which books should be in school libraries and how books may be removed, as well as prohibit dissenters from suing librarians over the reading options made available in accordance with those policies. The guidelines will be based upon a model policy drafted by the State Libra
Patch •

Teachers With Sex Abuse History Still Get Hired In NJ, Report Says

The report, published Tuesday by the State Commission of Investigation, found that problem educators have too much leeway in deciding what information about their past to report to a prospective employer; school officials can also misinterpret rules or simply cover up allegations and findings of sexual misconduct after an educator leaves their district. Furthermore, there isn't a state agency tasked with ensuring schools and educators are in compliance, nor is there a standardized process for re
Patch •

Biggest Boosts, Cuts To NJ Schools Under New Aid Plan: See The List

NEW JERSEY - Nearly 200 New Jersey schools could see five figure state aid increases under a new state budget proposed by Gov. Phil Murphy this week, and over 130 districts could even see six or seven figure raises.

Per the $11.7 billion funding plan unveiled in Trenton on Tuesday, 422 school districts will see increases in state aid and 137 will see cuts, according to figures provided by the state. 15 school districts won’t see any changes in funding year-over-year. Read more: New NJ School Ai
Patch •

New NJ School Aid Amounts Released: Who's Getting More?

NEW JERSEY — Dozens of New Jersey school districts may see cuts to K-12 state aid this upcoming school year, according to new figures released this week.

More than 60 school districts will see funding cuts in double-digit percentages, according to proposed district-by-district funding data published this week. Another 200-plus school districts are poised to see aid increases in the double digit percentages. During his annual budget address to legislators Tuesday, Gov. Phil Murphy noted the prop
Patch •

NJ’s Highest Paid School Administrators: See County Breakdown

NEW JERSEY - More than 3,200 New Jersey administrators made salaries of $150,000 per year or more and five made over $300,000 a year during the 2022-23 school year, according to the latest data from the state Department of Education.

The latest figures represent an increase from 2,556 administrators — including superintendents, principals and assistant principals, curriculum directors and other employees in administrative positions — who made at least $150,000 during the 2021-22 school year, ba
Patch •

PA Schools’ $5B Funding Gap Detailed In New Commission Report

HARRISBURG, PA - Pennsylvania K-12 schools are underfunded by $5.4 billion and should work to close the gap immediately over the next seven years, according to a new recommendations report narrowly approved last week by a state commission.

The 15-member Basic Education Funding Commission approved its 2024 report Thursday in a 8-7 vote, with recommendations ranging from increased funding to literacy programs and mental health services, charter schools and universal preschool across the Keystone
Patch •

Shelter Plans For Ex-UWS Calhoun School ‘Problematic,’ Brewer Says

“Big $ investment to convert historic school into homeless shelter,” Brewer, who represents the Upper West Side, wrote via X. “Should become permanent affordable housing instead.” Investment firm Bayrock Capital bought the 127-year-old school building at 160 West 74th St. over the summer for $14 million, with initial plans aimed at turning the site into a five-story upscale residential building, according to reports at the time.

But in an unexpected turn of events, plans submitted last month in
Patch •

Harlem Charter Student ‘Permanently’ Injured In School Brawl: Lawsuit

HARLEM, NY - The mother of a Harlem charter school student is suing the school over a violent encounter between her son and another student that left her son permanently injured, according to a lawsuit filed in New York County Supreme Court Wednesday.

Neighborhood Charter Schools of Harlem student, identified using only his initials JMR, was seriously injured by another student during an unsupervised classroom brawl in 2022, according to a complaint filed by attorneys representing JMR and his m
Patch •

UWS Students Sell Homemade Jam For A ‘Berry’ Good Cause

Students from the K-8 Manhattan Country School on West 85th Street and their parents are whipping up unique jam flavors to help support the school’s sliding scale tuition program, which organizers say helps keep the school one of the most diverse in New York City. “The sliding scale has allowed the school to bring together families of different economic levels, creating a diversity of students unparalleled in New York City schools — private or public,” said Andrew Page, a parent of two MCS stude
Patch •

Wash Heights Library Hours, Kids' Storytime Slashed In NYC Budget Cuts

Two more weekends of Sunday service remain at virtually every New York City library that are open on Sundays following sweeping budget cuts announced Thursday. The last day of Sunday service at libraries in Manhattan and the Bronx will be Nov. 26, city officials said. After Dec. 17, only one public library in the city — the Queens Public Library Kew Gardens Hills branch in Queens — is expected to be open on Sundays.

“Brooklyn Public Library, Queens Public Library and The New York Public Library
Point Pleasant, NJ Patch •

COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Coming For NJ Teachers, Source Confirms

This was first reported by NJ Advance Media, but state Sen. Joe Vitale (D-Middlesex) confirmed it to Patch Thursday afternoon. "It's happening. I know this because I spoke to the Murphy administration and he is going to make an announcement either Friday or Monday," said Vitale of the governor.

Vitale also said he spoke to Marie Blisten, president of the state teachers' union, the NJEA, Thursday afternoon and that she is supportive of the vaccine mandate. The NJEA did not immediately get back t
Holmdel-Hazlet, NJ Patch •

In Holmdel, Some Teachers Will Teach In-Person Classes From Home

HOLMDEL, NJ – Monday, Sept. 14 marks the first day back-to-school – literally – for students at Holmdel Public Schools since the district shuttered in-person classes in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. But while students will commence the school year by operating on a hybrid schedule with two days of in-person classes, some teachers will be instructing entirely from home.

"In these situations, our first priority was to find highly qualified teachers to fill these positions, but it has bee

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