As of the 2023–24 school year, the district, comprised of eight schools, had an enrollment of 3,487 students and 305.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.4:1.[1]
Awards and recognition
The Teaneck Public Schools have been recognized by the New Jersey Department of Education as part of its Best practices program. The district was awarded in the 1997–98 school year for its Passport Portfolio Program,[5] and in the 2000–01 school year for its Early Literacy Initiative.[6]
History
Harvey B. Scribner, who later served as New York City School Chancellor, was hired in 1961 by the Teaneck Public Schools to serve as superintendent of the district. There he oversaw the adoption of mandatory busing in 1965 in which Teaneck voluntarily integrated its public schools.[7] Despite angry phone calls from some parents and the occasional death threat, Teaneck's integration went smoothly and Scribner recalled that he was "literally crying" on the first day of school in 1965 when buses rolled into school without incident.[8] Teaneck's 1965 busing plan was widely reported as the first district in the nation with a white majority to implement a voluntary school integration program.[9][10]
A 1982 teachers strike that lasted for 19 days was settled after a judge threatened to jail striking teachers and pressured the board of education to negotiate an agreement.[11]
The district had been 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, ostensibly 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.[12] However, because socioeconomic data is derived from the municipality as a whole and a significant proportion of Teaneck's more affluent families send their children to parochial or other private schools, the usefulness of District Factor Grouping in the Teaneck district's case is disputed.[citation needed]
Defunct schools in the district include:
Eugene Field School – Constructed in 1956. Used as Board of Education Central Administration Offices. School #8. Named for poet and humorist Eugene Field. Repurposed as Theodora Smiley Lacey School in 2020.
Emerson Elementary School – Built in 1916. Original School #3. Named for author, essayist, and 19th century philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Washington Irving School – Built in 1906. Original School #2. Named for author Washington Irving.
Longfellow Elementary School – School #1. Named for poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Opened in 1910, the school was closed in 1998.[13] The building was acquired in 2017 for $4.3million as the site of the Al Ummah Community Center.[14]
Teaneck has received attention in the media due to sexual crimes committed against minors by faculty members. Joseph White, former principal of Teaneck High School, pleaded guilty to official child endangerment in June 2006 and was sentenced to one year in prison. White had been charged in 2002 with fondling a 17-year-old student and was subsequently acquitted.[38] James Darden, an award-winning former eighth grade teacher at Thomas Jefferson Middle School, was charged with sexual assault and misconduct in June 2007. He pleaded guilty in December 2007 to a charge of aggravated sexual assault and faces up to 81⁄2 years in prison when sentenced on January 18, 2008.[39]
Administration
Core members of the district's administration are:[40][41]
Victor Anaya, school business administrator / board secretary[43]
Board of education
The district's board of education, 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.[44][45][46]
↑ About, Teaneck Public Schools. Accessed July 1, 2025.
↑ Teaneck Board of Education District Bylaw 0110 - Identification, Teaneck Public Schools, adopted March 14, 2013. Accessed July 1, 2025. "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 Teaneck School District. Composition: The Teaneck School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Teaneck."
↑ Blair, Jayson. "Harvey B. Scribner, New York Schools Chancellor in a Turbulent Era, Dies at 88", The New York Times, December 24, 2002. Accessed August 18, 2010. "In 1961, he left to become the superintendent of schools in Teaneck, N.J., which became a crucible for dealing with racial issues in the suburbs. With the black population rising, whites were fleeing quickly to other suburban communities. He advocated adopting voluntary busing to keep the elementary schools integrated."
↑ Staff. "Harvey Scribner", The Record, December 27, 2002. Accessed July 1, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "He was a champion of school integration in Teaneck, the first community in the nation to voluntarily integrate its school system by busing."
↑ McGrath, Ellie. "Little Room to Negotiate", Time, October 18, 1982. Accessed July 1, 2025. "There were a record 242 strikes in the 1979-80 school year. The following year there were 191; so far this fall there have been about 65. Only some 20 strikes are still in progress today, and few seem likely to continue for long. A 19-day strike ended in Teaneck, N.J., last week after State Superior Court Judge Sherwin Lester leaned on both sides. He ordered teachers back to work and, when they refused, began commandeering school buildings for use as makeshift jails to confine groups of teachers during the day. When an intransigent board of education failed to produce a quorum for a crucial bargaining session, the judge pressured board members to negotiate with the union. The final three-year settlement for the teachers represents yearly pay increases of from 7.5% to 9.7%."
↑ Burrw, Megan. "Day care, fitness center, pool could be coming to former Teaneck elementary school site", The Record, August 24, 2019. Accessed July 1, 2025. "The group, called Ray of Sunshine Foundation, paid $4.3 million in October for the 110-year-old brick building at 50 Oakdene Ave., which once housed Longfellow School. Ray Hassan, the president of the Al Ummah Community Center, or AUCC, said his family is working toward opening the center in honor of his mother, Nuha Hassan Salem, who died of cancer in 2017."
↑ Annual Comprehensive Financial Report of the Township of Teaneck School District, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2024. Accessed July 1, 2025. "The Teaneck Board of Education (the 'Board' or the 'District') is an instrumentality of the State of New Jersey, established to function as an education institution. The Board consists of nine elected officials and is responsible for the fiscal control of the District. A Superintendent of Schools is appointed by the Board and is responsible for the administrative control of the District. A School Business Administrator/Board Secretary is also appointed by the Board and oversees the business functions of the District." See "Roster of Officials" on page 19.
↑ Board Members, Teaneck Public Schools. Accessed July 1, 2025.
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