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]
The NAMM Foundation named the district in its 2009 survey of the "Best Communities for Music Education", which included 124 school districts nationwide.[7]
On December 9, 2014, a referendum was held in Franklin and was passed by voters (1,971 in favor and 1,477 against)[25] 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 called Sampson G. Smith Intermediate School, for students in grades 5-6.
Franklin Middle School at Hamilton Street was called Franklin Middle School, for students in grades 7-8.
Administration
Core members of the district's administration are:[26]
Jonathan Toth, business administrator and board secretary[28]
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 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.[29]<rf>Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the Franklin Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2023. Accessed April 11, 2024. "The Franklin Township School District is a Type II district located in the County of Somerset, State of New Jersey. As a Type II district, the District functions independently through a Board of Education. The Board consists of nine members elected to three-year terms and is responsible for the fiscal control of the District. The terms are staggered so that three members' terms expire each year. The District provides a full range of educational services appropriate to grade levels pre-kindergarten through twelve at its ten schools."[30]
^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."
^ abLyons,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."
^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."
