Franklin Township Public Schools (Somerset County, New Jersey)

The Franklin Township Public Schools is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Franklin Township, in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States.[3]

Franklin Township Public Schools
Address
1755 Amwell Road Somerset, NJ 08873 United States
Coordinates	40.497711°N 74.528562°W
District information
Grades	Pre-K-12
Superintendent	Dr. John Ravally
Business administrator	Jonathan Toth
Schools	10
Students and staff
Enrollment	7,150 (as of 2018–19)[1]
Faculty	703.5 FTEs[1]
Student–teacher ratio	10.2:1[1]
Other information
District Factor Group	GH
Website	District website
Ind. Per pupil District spending Rank (*) K-12 average %± vs. average 1A Total Spending $19,864 72 $18,891 5.2% 1 Budgetary Cost 14,080 44 14,783 −4.8% 2 Classroom Instruction 7,929 18 8,763 −9.5% 6 Support Services 2,488 67 2,392 4.0% 8 Administrative Cost 1,498 60 1,485 0.9% 10 Operations & Maintenance 1,909 76 1,783 7.1% 13 Extracurricular Activities 223 42 268 −16.8% 16 Median Teacher Salary 57,800 14 64,043 Data from NJDoE 2014 Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending.[2] *Of K-12 districts with more than 3,500 students. Lowest spending=1; Highest=103

As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprising 10 schools, had an enrollment of 7,150 students and 703.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.2:1.[1]

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

Awards and recognition

For the 1993-94 school year, Hillcrest Elementary School was named as a "Star School" by the New Jersey Department of Education, the highest honor that a New Jersey school can achieve.[5] The school was honored again in the 1995-96 school year.[6]

NAMM named the district in its 2009 survey of the "Best Communities for Music Education", which included 124 school districts nationwide.[7]

Schools

Schools in the district (with 2018–19 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[8]) are:[9][10][11]

Elementary schools

• Claremont Elementary School[12] (665 students; in grades PreK-5) - school opened for 2018-19 school year
  • Nicole Sury-Bevere, Principal[13]
• Conerly Road School[14] (400; PreK-5)
  • Donna S. Burnett, Principal
• Elizabeth Avenue School[15] (493; PreK-5)
  • John Haney, Principal
• Franklin Park School[16] (664; PreK-5)
  • Purvi Shah, Principal[13]
• Hillcrest School[17] (436; PreK-5)
  • Albert Fico, Principal
• MacAfee Road School[18] (381; PreK-5)
  • Karen Adams, Principal
• Pine Grove Manor School[19] (331; PreK-5)
  • Miguel Rivera, Principal

Middle schools

• Franklin Middle School at Hamilton Street Campus[20] (706; 6-8)
  • Nicholas Solomon, Principal
• Franklin Middle School at Sampson G. Smith Campus[21] (797; 6-8)
  • Evelyn Rutledge, Principal

High school

• Franklin High School[22] (2,146; 9-12)
  • Frank Chmiel, Principal[13]

Former and converted schools

The "One Less Move" referendum

On December 9, 2014, a referendum was held in Franklin and was passed by voters (1,971 in favor and 1,477 against)[23] to fix the overcrowding issues in all the district's schools (except for the High School) and for facility upgrades and additions so that they could eliminate the use of modular classrooms (trailers). It was projected that over 700 new students would come to the district as a result of new housing developments being built around town. On top of that, the grade level structure would be reconfigured so that students in the district would only have to move between schools twice instead of three times (in other words attending three schools instead of four), hence the name "One Less Move". All of Franklin's elementary schools had previously housed students in grades PreK-4, but since the reconfiguration they each now have 5th grade.

To fix the overcrowding issues at the district's six elementary schools, Claremont Elementary School, a seventh elementary school, was built and opened in time for the 2018-19 school year, and Elizabeth Ave, and Hillcrest Elementary Schools were expanded with new classroom wings. Also in terms of facility additions, an additional gym and a new main office were built at Franklin Middle School at Sampson G. Smith as part of the referendum.

In those schools and all the others (excluding the High School), upgrades were made to replace aging and old bathrooms, windows, doors, parking lot repavement, new playgrounds and outside playing fields, exterior lighting, and electrical systems, just to name a few.

Before the 2018-19 school year, the configuration of the schools was as follows:

• Franklin Middle School at Sampson G. Smith was originally Sampson G. Smith Intermediate School, for students in grades 5-6.
• Franklin Middle School at Hamilton Street was originally just Franklin Middle School, for students in grades 7-8.

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are:[24]

• John A. Ravally, Superintendent[25]
• Jonathan Toth, Business Administrator / Board Secretary[26]

Board of education

The district's board of education, with nine 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 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 day-to-day operation of the district.[27][28]

References

1. District information for Franklin Township Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 1, 2020.
2. Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending April 2013, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 15, 2013.
3. Franklin Township Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Franklin Township Public Schools. Accessed June 26, 2020. "Purpose The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades Pre-Kindergarten through twelve in the Franklin Township School District. Composition The Franklin Township School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Franklin Township."
4. NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed September 20, 2014.
5. Star School Award recipient detail, New Jersey Department of Education, Archived December 18, 2006. Accessed November 26, 2009.
6. Star School Award recipient detail, New Jersey Department of Education, Archived December 18, 2006. Accessed December 3, 2009.
7. "Nationwide Survey Finds the 'Best Communities for Music Education' in U.S.", NAMM, April 16, 2009. Accessed November 13, 2009.
8. School Data for the Franklin Township Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 1, 2020.
9. School Information, Franklin Township Public Schools. Accessed June 26, 2020.
10. 2019-2020 Somerset County Public School Directory, Somerset County, New Jersey. Accessed June 26, 2020.
11. New Jersey School Directory for the Franklin Township Public Schools, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 29, 2016.
12. Claremont Elementary School, Franklin Township Public Schools. Accessed June 26, 2020.
13. Lyons,Malik A. "Franklin Township: Board of Education Appoints Two New Principals", TAP into Franklin / Somerset, January 26, 2018. Accessed July 23, 2018. "Frank Chmiel will serve as Franklin High School's (FHS) new principal replacing Interim Principal, Dr. Beth Ebler, who replaced Cheryl Clark in October.... Franklin Park School (FPS), Vice Principal, Purvi Shah will replace Nicole Sury-Bevere the current principal who will be moving on to become Claremont Road School's first principal."
14. Conerly Road School, Franklin Township Public Schools. Accessed June 26, 2020.
15. Elizabeth Avenue School, Franklin Township Public Schools. Accessed June 26, 2020.
16. Franklin Park School, Franklin Township Public Schools. Accessed June 26, 2020.
17. Hillcrest School, Franklin Township Public Schools. Accessed June 26, 2020.
18. MacAfee Road School, Franklin Township Public Schools. Accessed June 26, 2020.
19. Pine Grove Manor School, Franklin Township Public Schools. Accessed June 26, 2020.
20. Franklin Middle School At Hamilton Street Campus, Franklin Township Public Schools. Accessed June 26, 2020.
21. Franklin Middle School At Sampson G. Smith Campus, Franklin Township Public Schools. Accessed June 26, 2020.
22. Franklin High School, Franklin Township Public Schools. Accessed June 26, 2020.
23. One Less Move - Archives Franklin Township Public Schools. Accessed August 3, 2019
24. New Jersey School Directory for Somerset County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 29, 2016.
25. Superintendent, Franklin Township Public Schools. Accessed June 26, 2020.
26. Jon Toth, Franklin Township Public Schools. Accessed June 26, 2020.
27. 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.
28. About the Board of Education, Franklin Township Public Schools. Accessed June 26, 2020. "The nine members of the Board of Education are elected for three-year terms and serve without any pay or benefits as other elected officials."

External links

• Franklin Township Public Schools
• Franklin Township Public Schools's 2015–16 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
• School Data for the Franklin Township Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics