The North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District is a regional, four-year public high school district, that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from twelve municipalities in northern Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Students in the district are from Bethlehem Township, Califon Borough, Clinton Town, Clinton Township, Franklin Township, Glen Gardner Borough, Hampton Borough, High Bridge Borough, Lebanon Borough, Lebanon Township, Tewksbury Township and Union Township.[3][4]
Quick Facts Address, Coordinates ...
North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional HS District |
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, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, 08801 United States |
Coordinates | 40.629221°N 74.881603°W / 40.629221; -74.881603 |
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Grades | 9-12 |
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Superintendent | Jeffrey Bender |
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Business administrator | Katie Blew |
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Schools | 2 |
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Enrollment | 2,164 (as of 2021–22)[1] |
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Faculty | 195.4 FTEs[1] |
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Student–teacher ratio | 11.1:1[1] |
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District Factor Group | I |
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Website | www.nhvweb.net |
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Ind. | Per pupil | District spending | Rank (*) | 9-12 average | %± vs. average |
1A | Total Spending | $20,361 | 22 | $18,891 | 7.8% | 1 | Budgetary Cost | 18,068 | 41 | 15,592 | 15.9% | 2 | Classroom Instruction | 9,862 | 39 | 8,807 | 12.0% | 6 | Support Services | 2,589 | 32 | 2,294 | 12.9% | 8 | Administrative Cost | 1,676 | 25 | 1,592 | 5.3% | 10 | Operations & Maintenance | 2,586 | 47 | 1,954 | 32.3% | 13 | Extracurricular Activities | 1,313 | 44 | 873 | 50.4% | 16 | Median Teacher Salary | 65,570 | 19 | 71,726 | Data from NJDoE 2014 Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending.[2] *Of 9-12 districts with any number of students. Lowest spending=1; Highest=47 |
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As of the 2021–22 school year, the district, comprised of two schools, had an enrollment of 2,164 students and 195.4 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.1:1.[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.[5]
In a June 1947 referendum, 11 of the 13 municipalities voted in favor of the formation of a regional high school district, with Bloomsbury and High Bridge opting out, leading to a reduction to the size of the plans for the school building, which was scaled down from an original planned enrollment of 700, down to 600 students.[6] A referendum the next month failed when 10 of the 11 municipalities voted in favor by a better than 5-1 margin, while Franklin Township voters rejected the proposal.[7] All 11 of the districts voted to approve a February 1950 referendum for a building that would cost $700,000 (equivalent to $8,900,000 in 2023).[8] North Hunterdon Regional High School opened in September 1951 with 517 students in a 27-room facility constructed on a 45-acre (18 ha) site.[9]
In October 1972, voters of the 11 municipalities and those in High Bridge, New Jersey, approved separate referendums under which the High Bridge School District would close High Bridge High School in June 1973 and students from the borough would start attending the regional school.[10]
Voorhees High School, constructed at a cost of $7.5 million (equivalent to $42.5 million in 2023), opened for the 1975-76 school year.[11]
The Clinton Township School District had undertaken a project to consider the possibility of withdrawing from the North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District to form an independent K-12 school district. In February 2005, the Clinton Township Board of Education commissioned a study to consider the educational and financial effects of a proposed withdrawal scenario for Clinton Township, citing higher costs assessed to township residents under the funding formula then in place, through the district ultimately withdrew its withdrawal petition in December 2006.[12]
For the 2001–02 school year, North Hunterdon High School received the Blue Ribbon Award from the United States Department of Education, the highest honor that an American school can achieve.[13]
In 2015, Voorhees High School was one of 15 schools in New Jersey, and one of nine public schools, recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School in the exemplary high performing category.[14][15]
Schools in the district (with 2021–22 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[16]) are:[17][18][19]
- North Hunterdon High School[20] is located in Clinton Township (although the mailing address is Annandale). The school served 1,358 students from Bethlehem Township, Clinton Town, Clinton Township, Franklin Township, Lebanon Borough and Union Township.[3]
- Gregory Cottrell, principal[21]
- Voorhees High School[22] is located in Lebanon Township (although the mailing address is Glen Gardner). The school served 780 students from Califon, Glen Gardner, Hampton, High Bridge, Lebanon Township and Tewksbury Township.[3]
- Ron Peterson, principal[23]
Core members of the district's administration are:[24]
- Jeffrey Bender, superintendent[25]
- Katie Blew, business administrator and board secretary
The district's board of education, comprised of 12 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 four 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.[26][27][28] Seats on the board are allocated to the constituent municipalities and are assigned weighted votes based on population, with the total number of weighted votes equal to 12.1: Clinton Township and Lebanon Borough are allocated four seats between them, each with 0.9 weighted votes (a total of 3.6); High Bridge and Lebanon Township are allocated two seats between them, each with 1.2 votes (total of 2.4); Clinton Town, Franklin Township and Glen Gardner have two seats between them, each with 0.9 votes (total of 1.8); Califon and Tewksbury Township are allocated two seats between them, each with 0.8 weighted votes (total of 1.6); Union Township is assigned one seat with 1.4 weighted votes; and Bethlehem Township and Hampton are assigned one seat between them, with 1.3 weighted votes.[29]
About the District, North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District. Accessed September 22, 2014. "Our district consists of 12 municipalities: North Hunterdon High School educates students from: Bethlehem Township, Clinton Town, Clinton Township, Franklin Township, Lebanon Borough, Union Township; Voorhees High School educates students from: Califon, Glen Gardner, Hampton, High Bridge, Lebanon Township, Tewksbury Township... North Hunterdon High School educates students from: Bethlehem Township, Clinton Town, Clinton Township, Franklin Township, Lebanon Borough, Union Township. Voorhees High School educates students from: Califon, Glen Gardner, Hampton, High Bridge, Lebanon Township, Tewksbury Township"
North Hunterdon-Voorhees Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District. Accessed March 13, 2022. "Purpose: The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades nine through twelve in the North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District. Composition: The North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District shall be organized in the territory comprised of Bethlehem Township, Califon Borough, Clinton Town, Clinton Township, Franklin Township, Glen Gardner Borough, Hampton Borough, Lebanon Township, Tewksbury Township, Lebanon Borough, Union Township, and High Bridge Borough, for the limited purpose of providing and operating a high school (9-12)."
"Regional School Cost Reduced", Courier News, June 18, 1947. Accessed March 13, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Because of the failure of High Bridge and Bloomsbury to approve the North Hunterdon regional high school project at a special election June 10, a new plan approved at a meeting Monday in the office of the State Commissioner of Education at Trenton calls for an expenditure of $600,000, instead of $700,000, as first proposed. Eleven of the 13 school districts which voted on the project endorsed the regional school plan."
"Franklin Vote Kills Regional School Plan In Hunterdon", Courier News, July 23, 1947. Accessed March 13, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "More than five years of planning and working toward a regional high school for North Hunterdon County was frustrated by 30 voters in Franklin Township last night when 71 of a total of 112 ballots cast decided against the district's participation in the regional high school project for 11 municipalities. In the 10 other districts approval was voiced at an approximate 5 to 1 vote."
"North Hunterdon Okehs Regional School Bonds", Courier News, February 8, 1950. Accessed March 13, 2022. "Approval of a $700,000 bond issue for construction of North Hunterdon Regional High School was given an eight-to-one majority in the regional school district election in 11 municipalities last night. There was a 25 per cent vote cast when 1,919 voters of an eligible registration of 6,814 turned out to decide the question."
"State Approval Of Plans : Waited By Regional Board", The Record, September 12, 1951. Accessed March 13, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "All members of the Board recently visited the new North Hunterdon Regional High School In Clinton, which opens this week with an enrollment of 517 pupils. The North Hunterdon School which comprises 11 districts in the farm country area, was started in May 1950. It comprises 27 rooms, with 17 classrooms, and covers a 45-acre area for which the Hunterdon Regional Board paid $16,000 several years ago."
"Voters approve school merger", Courier News, October 11, 1972. Accessed November 9, 2023, via Newspapers.com. "Voters in the North Hunterdon Regional High School district, made up of 11 neighboring municipalities, and voters in High Bridge approved a merger of High Bridge High School into the regional district. The merger required a separate referendum in both school districts and the vote is binding on the two respective school boards. The merger passed in the regional district, 528-375; voters in High Bridge approved the move 354-197. High Bridge will begin sending its estimated 180 students to the regional high school in September 1973."
Staff. "Board drops petition to withdraw from high school district", New Jersey Hills, December 2, 2006. Accessed March 13, 2022. "He said Clinton Township is still paying more than its cost-per-pupil share due to the state formula for assessing costs in the 12 towns. The resolution to drop the withdrawal petition before the county school superintendent's office allows the North Hunterdon-Voorhees district to move ahead with its own possible referendum of more than $20 million to expand the North Hunterdon High School campus and make capital improvements at both North Hunterdon and Voorhees high schools."
Mueller, Mark. "Which N.J. schools were named National Blue Ribbon schools?", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, September 29, 2015, updated January 25, 2019. Accessed March 13, 2022. "Fifteen New Jersey schools have been recognized by the federal government as National Blue Ribbon Schools, a designation that celebrates excellence in academics or progress in closing the achievement gap among groups of students.... Each of the 15 New Jersey schools was chosen for the 'exemplary high performing' category, which weighs state or national tests, high school graduation rates and the performance of subgroups of students, such as those who are economically disadvantaged."
Voorhees High School, North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District. Accessed March 13, 2022.