The South Orange-Maplewood School District is a regional public school district, serving students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from the suburban communities of South Orange and Maplewood, two municipalities in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2019–20 school year, the district, comprising 11 schools, had an enrollment of 7,353 students and 576.1 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.8:1. 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.

History

The school district has operated as a unified organization for the area since 1867 and under the current name since 1894. James Ricalton, a teacher, photographer and world traveler born in New York of Scottish parents who became the school district's first permanent teacher, helped set the high standard of education that persists in the school district to this day. In October 2014, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint against the South Orange-Maplewood School District in relation to its academic leveling and disciplinary systems, stating that the overuse of discipline and "zero-tolerance" policy, and implicit racial bias within the level selection system violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Awards and recognition

For the 1992–93 school year, Columbia High School received the National Blue Ribbon Award of Excellence from the United States Department of Education, the highest honor that an American school can achieve. The NAMM Foundation named the district in its 2009 survey of the "Best Communities for Music Education", which included 124 school districts nationwide.

Schools

Schools in the district (with 2019–20 school enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics ) are:

Administration

Members of the district administration are: Kevin Gilbert was named as acting superintendent in November 2023 after the former superintendent Ronald Taylor was place on administrative leave through the end of his contract in June 2024.

Board of education

The district's board of education, composed 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 2013) 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. The district's tax levy is approved by an eight-member Board of School Estimate, which includes two members of the district's board of education and three elected officials each from Maplewood and South Orange.