The Pleasantville Public Schools are a comprehensive community

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations. North America United States In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, w ...

that serves students in

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

through

twelfth grade Twelfth grade, 12th grade, senior year, or grade 12 is the final year of secondary school in most of North America. In other regions, it may also be referred to as class 12 or Year 13. In most countries, students are usually between the ages of 17 ...

from the City of Pleasantville, in Atlantic County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

, United States. The district is one of 31 former

Abbott district ''Abbott'' districts are school districts in New Jersey that are provided remedies to ensure that their students receive public education in accordance with the state constitution. They were created in 1985 as a result of the first ruling of ''Abb ...

s statewide that were established pursuant to the decision by the

New Jersey Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases challenging th ...

in ''Abbott v. Burke'' which are now referred to as "SDA Districts" based on the requirement for the state to cover all costs for school building and renovation projects in these districts under the supervision of the

New Jersey Schools Development Authority The New Jersey Schools Development Authority (commonly referred to as NJSDA or SDA) is the State agency responsible for fully funding and managing the new construction, modernization and renovation of school facilities projects in 31 New Jersey sch ...

. As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprised of seven schools, had an enrollment of 3,757 students and 314.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a

student–teacher ratio Student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio is the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that there are 10 students ...

of 12.0:1.District information for Pleasantville Public School District

National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district financ ...

. Accessed April 1, 2020. The district is classified by the

New Jersey Department of Education The New Jersey Department of Education (NJ DOE) administers state and federal aid programs affecting more than 1.4 million public and non-public elementary and secondary school children in the state of New Jersey. The department is headquartered ...

as being in

District Factor Group {{refimprove, date=February 2013 Membership in a District Factor Group (DFG) is an indicator of the socioeconomic status of citizens in school districts of New Jersey. DFGs were first developed by the New Jersey Department of Education in 1975 for ...

"A", the lowest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common

socioeconomic Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how modern societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their l ...

characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J. Students from Absecon attend the district's high school for

ninth In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second. Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...

through

s as part of a

sending/receiving relationship A sending/receiving relationship is one in which a public school district sends some or all of its students to attend the schools of another district. This is often done to achieve costs savings in smaller districts or continues after districts hav ...

with the

Absecon Public School District The Absecon Public School District is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade from Absecon, in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2021–22 school year, ...

. Absecon has sought to end its agreement with Pleasantville and send its students to

Absegami High School Absegami High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades in Galloway Township, Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States The student body comes from Galloway Township.

under a new sending/receiving relationship with the

Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District The Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District is a regional public high school district in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The district serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from the constituent municipalities of ...

that Absecon argues would give its students a better education at a lower cost, without negatively impacting the demographics in Pleasantville High School. About 10% of Absecon's graduating students have been choosing to attend Pleasantville High School, for which the Absecon district has been paying $18,000 per student each year.

History

Circa 2014 the dissolution of some

charter schools A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...

was a factor in an increase in the student population, despite a decline in casino jobs.

Awards and recognition

For the 2005-06 school year, Washington Avenue Elementary School was one of 22 schools statewide selected as Governor's School of Excellence Winners, an award given to schools that demonstrated significant improvement over the previous two academic years. In March 2007, the commissioner of the

appointed a monitor to supervise and address a series of issues raised regarding the district's financial practices and "to ensure that state school aid is spent efficiently and effectively".

Controversy

On September 6, 2007, The FBI arrested five members of the Pleasantville school board as part of a federal corruption case that included several state lawmakers and other public officials. Included in the sweep were the arrests of Assemblymen

Mims Hackett Mims Hackett (born September 28, 1941) is an American Democratic Party politician, who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2002 to 2007, where he represented the 27th Legislative District, which covers the western portion of Essex Co ...

and Alfred E. Steele, and

Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69, ...

Mayor

Samuel Rivera Samuel Rivera (1946 – May 1, 2020) was an American politician, the Democratic mayor of the U.S. city of Passaic, New Jersey, from 2001 until 2008. Rivera came to national attention on September 6, 2007, when he was indicted and arrested on c ...

. Indictments were filed against four sitting members of the board of education charging that they had accepted bribes to steer insurance or roofing business from the district. Charged were Jayson Adams (accused of accepting $15,000 in bribes), James McCormick ($3,500), James Pressley ($32,200) and Rafael Velez ($14,000). Former board member Maurice 'Pete' Callaway, a current Pleasantville councilmember, was accused of accepting $13,000 in bribes as part of the scheme and was sentenced to 12 months in federal prison for his role as bagman in the scheme.

Schools

Schools in the district (with 2018–19 enrollment data from the

) are: ;Early childhood *Decatur Avenue Early Childhood Center with NA students in grade PreK **Sheila Ceasar, Early Childhood Supervisor ;Elementary schools *Leeds Avenue School with 625 students in grades PreK-5 **Lisa Stuart-Smith, principal *North Main Street School with 372 students in grades PreK-5 **Teresa McGaney-Guy, principal *South Main Street School with 491 students in grades PreK-5 **Dr. Felicia Hyman-Medley, principal *Washington Avenue School with 425 students in grades K-5 **Dr. Cynthia Ruiz-Cooper, principal ;Middle school *Pleasantville Middle School with 760 students in grades 6-8 ** Dr. Lapell Chapman, principal * Pleasantville High School with 828 students in grades 9-12 **Howard Johnson, principal ; Defunct schools * In 1948, during

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legall ...

educational segregation in the United States Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

, the district had a school for black children. - CITED: p. 85.

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are: *Karin Farkas, acting superintendent of schools *Daile Dixon-White, business administrator and board secretary

Board of education

The district's

board of education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional ar ...

, comprised of 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 district's day-to-day operations and a business administrator to supervise the business functions of the district.Board of Education
Pleasantville Public Schools. Accessed June 11, 2020.

References

External links

* *
School Data for the Pleasantville Public Schools

{{Atlantic County, New Jersey School Districts Pleasantville, New Jersey New Jersey Abbott Districts New Jersey District Factor Group A School districts in Atlantic County, New Jersey