As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of 12 schools, had an enrollment of 4,713 students and 438.1 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.8:1.[1]
The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "B", the second-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.[8]
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 that have been held as part of the November general election since 2021. 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][30]
Until 2020, Garfield had been one of about a dozen districts statewide (five of which are in Bergen County) which held school elections in April and in which voters also decided on passage of the annual school budget.[31][32] In June 2020, the city council voted to shift school elections from April to November, with the first election under the new calendar to take place in 2021; this change will also mean that voters no longer vote on the school budget, as long as spending increases are within the state-mandated threshold.[33]
^Home Page, Garfield Public Schools. Accessed August 27, 2020. "The Garfield school district is comprised of approximately five thousand students housed in seven elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. In addition, the district also offers PreK education to three and four-year-old children in various locations in the city."
^Garfield Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Garfield Public Schools. Accessed October 11, 2023. "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 Garfield School District. Composition: The Garfield School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Garfield."
^What We Do: History, New Jersey Schools Development Authority. Accessed March 1, 2022. "In 1998, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in the Abbott v. Burke case that the State must provide 100 percent funding for all school renovation and construction projects in special-needs school districts. According to the Court, aging, unsafe and overcrowded buildings prevented children from receiving the "thorough and efficient" education required under the New Jersey Constitution.... Full funding for approved projects was authorized for the 31 special-needs districts, known as 'Abbott Districts'."
^Kiefer, Eric. "Garfield School District Hires Belleville Superintendent: Board Prez", Belleville-Nutley, NJ Patch, March 15, 2024. Accessed May 9, 2024. "Belleville School Superintendent Richard Tomko will soon be taking over the reins in Garfield, according to a letter from that district’s board of education."
^Annual Comprehensive Financial Report of the Garfield Board of Education, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2022. Accessed October 11, 2023. "The Garfield 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."
^Mazzola, Jessica. "13 N.J school districts held elections Tuesday and - surprise! - hardly anyone voted. See how bad it was", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, April 18, 2018, updated May 14, 2019. Accessed February 17, 2020. "The rest of their 530 counterparts across the state have switched to November elections – most made the change immediately after a 2012 law allowing school district votes to move from April to the fall, held in tandem with the general election. But voters in 13 New Jersey towns went to the polls Tuesday to cast votes for their local boards of education, and in most cases, on whether or not to pass the district budgets."
^Sobko, Katie. "Garfield to move school district elections to November", The Record, June 14, 2020. Accessed March 5, 2021. "Garfield officials have decided to move the school district election to November. The city was one of only a handful of districts that still held spring elections.... While Mayor Richard Rigoglioso was not involved in the discussion or the vote because he is employed by the district, the council voted unanimously in favor of the move. City Attorney Robert Ferraro told them that he had already sent notice to district officials and confirmed that this would take effect in 2021."
