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, in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.^[3]

Branchburg Township School District
Address
240 Baird Road Branchburg , Somerset County, New Jersey, 08876 United States
Coordinates	40.573516°N 74.714605°W / 40.573516; -74.714605
District information
Grades	PreK to 8
Superintendent	Karen Chase
Business administrator	Sally Dolan
Schools	3
Students and staff
Enrollment	1,325 (as of 2020–21)[1]
Faculty	152.7 FTEs[1]
Student–teacher ratio	8.7:1[1]
Other information
District Factor Group	I
Website	www.branchburg.k12.nj.us
Ind. Per pupil District spending Rank (*) K-8 average  %± vs. average 1A Total Spending $17,974 56 $18,891 −4.9% 1 Budgetary Cost 14,924 61 14,159 5.4% 2 Classroom Instruction 9,155 63 8,659 5.7% 6 Support Services 2,377 59 2,167 9.7% 8 Administrative Cost 1,747 66 1,547 12.9% 10 Operations & Maintenance 1,330 22 1,612 −17.5% 13 Extracurricular Activities 123 68 104 18.3% 16 Median Teacher Salary 60,685 38 61,136 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 2020–21 school year, the district, comprising three schools, had an enrollment of 1,325 students and 152.7 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 8.7:1.^[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 2020–21 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 1,155 students and 92.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.6:1.^[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 2020–21 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics^[10]) are:^{[11][12][13][14]}

Elementary schools

• Whiton Elementary School^[15] with 544 students in grades PreK-3
  • Dee Shober, principal^[16]
• Stony Brook School^[17] with 287 students in grades 4–5
  • Kristen Kries, principal^[18]

Middle school

• Branchburg Central Middle School^[19] with 431 students in grades 6–8
  • Christina Steffner, acting principal^[20]

Administration

Core district administration members are:^[21][22]

• Karen Chase, superintendent of Schools^[23]
• Sally Dolan, business administrator and board secretary^[24]

Board of education

The district's board of education is composed of 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. 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.^[25][26][27]

References

1. District information for Branchburg Township School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 15, 2022.
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 September 18, 2023. "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 February 15, 2022.
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 February 15, 2022.
11. Schools, Branchburg Township School District. Accessed February 8, 2020.
12. Public Schools Directory 2023–2024, Somerset County, New Jersey. Accessed March 12, 2024.
13. School Performance Reports for the Branchburg Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 3, 2024.
14. New Jersey School Directory for the Branchburg Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.
15. Whiton Elementary School, Branchburg Township School District. Accessed July 10, 2022.
16. Directory, Whiton Elementary School. Accessed March 27, 2024.
17. Stony Brook School, Branchburg Township School District. Accessed July 10, 2022.
18. Directory, Stony Brook School. Accessed March 27, 2024.
19. Branchburg Central Middle School, Branchburg Township School District. Accessed July 10, 2022.
20. Directory, Branchburg Central Middle School. Accessed March 27, 2024.
21. District Office Directory, Branchburg Township School District. Accessed March 27, 2024.
22. New Jersey School Directory for Somerset County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.
23. Office of the Superintendent, Branchburg Township School District. Accessed March 27, 2024.
24. Business Office, Branchburg Township School District. Accessed March 27, 2024.
25. 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.
26. Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the Branchburg Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2023. Accessed April 9, 2024. "The Board is an instrumentality of the State of New Jersey, established to function as an educational institution. The Board consists of elected officials and is responsible for the fiscal control of the District. A superintendent is appointed by the Board and is responsible for the administrative control of the District."
27. Board of Education Members, Branchburg Township School District. Accessed September 18, 2023.

External links

• Branchburg Township School District
• School Performance Reports for the Branchburg Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education
• School Data for the Branchburg Township School District, National Center for Education Statistics