Woodland Township School District
As of the 2022–23 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 109 students and 14.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 7.8:1. In the 2016–17 school year, Woodland had the 24th smallest enrollment of any school district in the state, with 147 students.
The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "DE", the fifth-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.
Public school students from Woodland Township in ninth through twelfth grades attend Seneca High School, located in Tabernacle Township, which also serves students from Shamong Township, Southampton Township and Tabernacle Townships. The school is part of the Lenape Regional High School District, which also serves students from Evesham Township, Medford Lakes, Medford Township and Mount Laurel Township at Shawnee High School. As of the 2020–21 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 1,073 students and 103.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.4:1.
History
After decades of failed attempts, legislation was signed into law in 1996 that would allow the Woodland Township School District to sever its sending/receiving relationship with the Pemberton Township School District and join the Lenape Regional High School District. Woodland Township had been sending about 30 students a year—and nearly $300,000 in tuition payments—to join the 1,350 students then at Pemberton Township High School as part of a relationship that dated back to the 1920s. For years, the Pemberton district had refused Woodland Township's repeated requests to terminate the relationship. In May 1997, the Lenape district agreed to start accepting students from Woodland Township at Lenape High School starting with the 1997-98 school year and to add Woodland Township as the regional district's eight constituent municipality.
School
- Chatsworth Elementary School had an enrollment of 129 students in grades PreK-8 in the 2020–21 school year.
Administration
Core members of the district's administration are:
- Misty Weiss, superintendent
- Laura Archer, business administrator and board secretary
Board of education
The district's board of education, composed of five 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 either one or two 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.
References
- ^ District information for Woodland Township School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 1, 2024.
- ^ Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending April 2013, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 15, 2013.
- ^ Woodland Township Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Woodland Township School District. Accessed June 22, 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 eight in the Woodland Township School District. Composition: The Woodland Township School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Woodland Township."
- ^ Public Schools Directory 2023–2024, Burlington County, New Jersey. Accessed March 1, 2024.
- ^ School Performance Reports for the Woodland Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 3, 2024.
- ^ New Jersey School Directory for the Woodland Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.
- ^ Guion, Payton. "These 43 N.J. school districts have fewer than 200 students", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, September 2017. Accessed January 30, 2020. "Based on data from the state Department of Education from the last school year and the Census Bureau, NJ Advance Media made a list of the smallest of the small school districts in the state, excluding charter schools and specialty institutions.... 24. Woodland Township; Enrollment: 147; Grades: K-7; County: Burlington; Town population: 1,788"
- ^ NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed November 18, 2014.
- ^ Seneca High School 2015 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 22, 2020. "Attendance Area: Shamong, Southampton, Tabernacle and Woodland Townships"
- ^ Lenape Regional High School District 2016 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 22, 2020. "The Lenape Regional High School District (LRHSD) serves the eight municipalities of Evesham, Medford, Mount Laurel, Shamong, Southampton, Tabernacle and Woodland Townships and Medford Lakes Borough. Encompassing an area of 350 square miles the Lenape District is the largest school district in Burlington County."
- ^ Staff. "Regional School Districts", Burlington County Times, April 26, 2015. Accessed June 22, 2020. "Lenape Regional Serves: Evesham, Medford, Medford Lakes, Mount Laurel, Shamong, Southampton, Tabernacle, Woodland"
- ^ School data for Seneca High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 15, 2022.
- ^ Wilson, David E. "Woodland youths may get to skip Pemberton High; Well, the way is clearer for them to go to Lenape Regional. Parents have yearned for that for years.", The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 8, 1996. Accessed March 13, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Convinced that the Lenape Regional High School District can offer a better education for graduates of their elementary school, many parents want to end an almost 70-year relationship with Pemberton Township High School.... All that the Woodland educators needed to get started on the switch to Lenape was Pemberton's permission. But Pemberton officials, mindful of the negative publicity such a move would create and the $7,800 annual tuition payment for each graduate of Chatsworth Elementary School said 'no' every time.... Losing Woodland's students would be a financial loss for the Pemberton Township School District, which as a special-needs district already qualifies for additional state dollars. With the transfer of the Woodland students, the high school would lose about $300,000. About 1,350 students attend Pemberton Township High School."
- ^ Harbach, Louise. "Lenape district board lets Woodland in", The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 12, 1997. Accessed March 13, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "After years spent trying to sever its sending-receiving relationship with Pemberton Township, the Woodland Board of Education has finally gotten its wish: Come September, high school students from the sprawling 94-square-mile township deep in the Pinelands will attend school in the Lenape Regional High School District. Next year, about 15 Woodland students from the sparsely populated municipality will go to Lenape Regional High School, one of three high schools in the Lenape district, following a decision Tuesday by the Lenape school board. As a result of the Lenape board's decision, Woodland will be admitted as the eighth member of the regional district. Since 1958, Lenape has consisted of students from Evesham, Medford, Medford Lakes, Mount Laurel, Shamong, Southampton and Tabernacle."
- ^ School Data for the Woodland Township School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 15, 2022.
- ^ Faculty and Staff, Woodland Township School District. Accessed March 13, 2022.
- ^ New Jersey School Directory for Burlington County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.
- ^ New Jersey Boards of Education by District Election Types - 2018 School Election, New Jersey Department of Education, updated February 16, 2018. Accessed January 26, 2020.
- ^ Annual Comprehensive Financial Report of the Woodland Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2019. Accessed June 22, 2020. "The Township of Woodland School District (hereafter referred to as the 'District') is a Type II district located in the County of Burlington, State of New Jersey. As a Type II district, the School District functions independently through a Board of Education. The Board is comprised of five members elected to three-year terms. These terms are staggered so that two members’ terms expire each year. The purpose of the District is to educate students in grades kindergarten through eight at its one schools."
- ^ Board of Education, Woodland Township School District. Accessed March 13, 2022.