Grades K-12 Affiliation(s) Former Abbott district Student-teacher ratio 8.53:1 Number of students 3,223 Faculty 378 | Business administrator Dennis Mulvihill Enrollment 3,223 (as of 2011-12) Phone +1 609-383-6800 Schools 7 | |
Superintendent Dr. Leonard Fitts (interim) Address 801 Mill Rd, Pleasantville, NJ 08232, USA | ||
The Pleasantville Public Schools are a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in Kindergarten through twelfth grade from the City of Pleasantville, in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The district is one of 31 former Abbott districts statewide, 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.
Contents
As of the 2011-12 school year, the district's seven schools had an enrollment of 3,223 students and 378.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 8.53:1.
The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "A", the lowest 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.
Students from Absecon attend the district's high school for ninth through twelfth grades as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Absecon Public School District.
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 New Jersey Department of Education 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 and Alfred E. Steele, and Passaic Mayor Samuel Rivera. 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 2011-12 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are:
Administration
Core members of the district's administration are: