Fort Lee School District

The Fort Lee School District or Fort Lee Public Schools is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-Kindergarten through twelfth grade from Fort Lee, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.[3]

Fort Lee School District
Address
2175 Lemoine Avenue
Fort Lee, NJ 07024
United States
Coordinates40.848853°N 73.971705°W / 40.848853; -73.971705
District information
GradesPre-K to 12
SuperintendentKenneth Rota
Business administratorHaqquisha Q. Taylor
Schools6
Students and staff
Enrollment4,103 (as of 2018–19)[1]
Faculty301.2 FTEs[1]
Student–teacher ratio13.6:1[1]
Other information
District Factor GroupFG
Websiteflboe.com
Ind.Per pupilDistrict
spending		Rank
(*)		K-12
average		%± vs.
average
1ATotal Spending$17,19730$18,891−9.0%
1Budgetary Cost13,4923214,783−8.7%
2Classroom Instruction8,137278,763−7.1%
6Support Services2,416602,3921.0%
8Administrative Cost1,343311,485−9.6%
10Operations & Maintenance1,248131,783−30.0%
13Extracurricular Activities3228026820.1%
16Median Teacher Salary66,0005864,043
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
School No 4

As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprising six schools, had an enrollment of 4,103 students and 301.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 15:1.[1]

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

During the 2010-11 school year, School #3 was awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive, one of only 10 schools statewide to be honored.[5] The school was one of three in Bergen County honored that year.[6]

Fort Lee High School has been ranked very highly both by U.S News and World Report (92 of 451 in 2020[7]) and the New Jersey Department of Education ranking (89% percentile in the state[8]). The elementary and middle schools have consistently been ranked highly too.

Controversy

Fort Lee Elementary School 1 was in the news in 2018, receiving local and even out-of-state media coverage after a teacher's assistant pleaded guilty to selling drugs on school grounds. [9]

Schools

Schools in the district (with 2018–19 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[10]) are:[11][12]

Elementary schools
  • School 1[13] (761 students in grades K-4)
    • Rosemary Giacomelli, Principal
  • School 2[14] (493; PreK-4)
    • John Brennan, Principal
  • School 3[15] (596; K-4)
    • Jay Berman, Principal
  • School 4[16] (614; K-4)
    • Patrick Ambrosio, Principal
Intermediate / Middle school
  • Lewis F. Cole Intermediate School[17] / Lewis F. Cole Middle School[18] (585; 5-8)
    • Dr. Robert Daniello, Principal
High school

Administrators

Core members of the district's administration are:[12][20]

  • Kenneth Rota, Superintendent of Schools[21][22]
  • Haqquisha Q. Taylor, Business Administrator / Board Secretary[23]

Former District Superintendent Dr. Raymond Bandlow announced in August 2011 that although he had over two years left on his contract, he would be retiring in New Jersey effective October 31 to accept a position as superintendent of the Beacon City Schools in Beacon, New York. In addition to collecting a New Jersey pension, Bandlow will receive an annual salary below the $210,000 he had been receiving in Fort Lee, but more than the nearly $165,000 he would have received in a new contract in Fort Lee following restrictions on salaries imposed by Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie.[24]

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.[25][26][27]

References
  1. District information for Fort Lee School District, 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. Fort Lee Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Fort Lee Public Schools. Accessed April 26, 2020. "Purpose: The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades Kindergarten through twelve in the Fort Lee Public Schools. Composition: The Fort Lee Public Schools are comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Fort Lee."
  4. NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed March 18, 2015.
  5. 2010 Blue Ribbon Schools: All Public and Private Schools, United States Department of Education. Accessed April 5, 2011.
  6. Alex, Patricia. "3 Bergen elementary schools given Blue Ribbon designation", The Record (Bergen County), January 6, 2011. Accessed April 5, 2011.
  7. Fort Lee High School 2020 Rankings, U.S News and World Report. Accessed April 26, 2020.
  8. Clark, Adam; Astudillo, Carla. "See how your public school scores in N.J.'s newest (and hidden) ratings", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. January 23, 2018, updated April 2, 2019. Accessed April 26, 2020.
  9. "NJ Teacher's Assistant Sold Oxycodone at School: Prosecutors". NBC New York. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  10. School Data for the Fort Lee School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 1, 2020.
  11. New Jersey School Directory for the Fort Lee School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 29, 2016.
  12. Administration Archived 2014-04-24 at the Wayback Machine, Fort Lee School District. Accessed July 23, 2015.
  13. School 1, Fort Lee School District. Accessed April 27, 2020.
  14. School 2, Fort Lee School District. Accessed April 27, 2020.
  15. School 3, Fort Lee School District. Accessed April 27, 2020.
  16. School 4, Fort Lee School District. Accessed April 27, 2020.
  17. Lewis F. Cole Intermediate School, Fort Lee School District. Accessed April 27, 2020.
  18. Lewis F. Cole Middle School, Fort Lee School District. Accessed April 27, 2020.
  19. Fort Lee High School, Fort Lee School District. Accessed April 27, 2020.
  20. New Jersey School Directory for Bergen County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 29, 2016.
  21. Superintendent of Schools, Fort Lee School District. Accessed April 27, 2020.
  22. Shkolkinova, Svetlana. "Kenneth Rota officially at helm of Fort Lee school district", Fort Lee Suburbanite, July 10, 2015. Accessed July 23, 2015. "After more than two years of stand-ins and an interim superintendent, the district's top post was filled on July 1 for the long-term. Superintendent Kenneth Rota, former schools chief of the Paramus school district, began his five-year tenure in Fort Lee as community members said a reluctant goodbye to Paul Saxton who served as interim superintendent for two years and presided over the passage of the district's first expansion referendum in 40 years."
  23. Business Office, Fort Lee School District. Accessed April 27, 2020.
  24. Almenas, Maxim. "Fort Lee Superintendent Raymond Bandlow will leave the district Oct. 31", Fort Lee Suburbanite, August 30, 2011. Accessed August 31, 2011. "Fort Lee School Superintendent Raymond Bandlow has been the district leader for four years, but he was not present at the Aug. 29 school board meeting. Instead, he was officially accepting the superintendent position for the Beacon City school district in Dutchess County, 50 miles north of New York City. Bandlow's resignation will be effective as of Oct. 31."
  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. Comprehensive Annual Financial Report of the Fort Lee Public Schools, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2018. Accessed March 1, 2020. "The Fort Lee Publics Schools (the “District) is a Type II District located in the County of Bergen, State of New Jersey. The District functions independently through a nine-member Board of Education. The purpose of the District is to educate students K-12."
  27. Board of Education, Fort Lee School District. Accessed April 27, 2020.
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