Bernards School District Performs Over Average, Costs Under Average, in 2009-10 State Report Card

Percentage-wise, students in the Bernards Township schools continued to outscore the state average in the 2009-10 school report card for New Jersey schools released on Tuesday. At the same time, the district's cost per pupil, $13,879, remained under the state average of $15,538 for that year, the most recent for which the state has issued reports.

The average district teacher was paid $60,393, just slightly less than the state average of $61,840, the report said. Teachers in Bernards Township average eight years of experience, compared with 10 years statewide, the report said.

Some other key figures:

• The Bernards Township school budget derived 89 percent of its funding from local taxes, compared with an average 51 percent statewide. The report said the township financed about 7 percent of its budget from state aid, compared with a 40 percent average contribution from the state for all districts in the state. That percentage figure was calculated in a year when the township received just over $3 million in state aid, compared with about $835,000 for 2010-11.
• District administrators were paid an average salary of $115,091, compared with $117,895 statewide. The district averaged 285.9 students per administrator, compared with 178.5 students per administrator statewide.
• In grades 11-12, 54.9 percent of Ridge High School students were enrolled in advanced placement classes, compared with 19.9 percent statewide.
• Ridge High School students achieved an average score of 600 on the math section of the SAT exam, compared with 520 statewide and a score of 606 in math in similar districts. Ridge students scored an average of 573 on the verbal section of the exam, compared with 497 statewide and 577 in similar districts, as rated by socioeconomic factors. In the essay section, Ridge students scored an average of 510, compared with 497 statewide and 520 in similar districts, according to the report card.
• Students throughout the district scored higher than the state average on the NJASK test. For example, in the sixth grade, 28 percent of students at William Annin Middle School scored as advanced proficient in language arts, compared with 7.6 percent statewide and 21.8 percent in similar districts.
• In math, 54.6 percent of sixth graders scored as advanced proficient at the William Annin Middle School in 2009-10, compared with 23.6 percent statewide and 48.7 percent in similar districts.

"I would expect the schools to do well," Board of Education member Michael Byrne said on Tuesday afternoon. However, he said he had not yet had time to compare the district scores to those in about 25 or 26 of the top school districts in the state, his usual practice.

Even while he expressed approval of the district's reported performance, he said that continuing state aid cuts would eventually hurt many of the state's school systems. "At a point in time, as the cuts continue, they're going to damage all the districts except maybe the Abbott (the state's poorest) districts," Byrne said.

School Board Presidents Susan Carlsson said she too compares the Bernards school district figures with similar school districts, rather than the state.

If the Bernards district is within a few points of those other districts, "Then we know we are doing a good job," she said.

She noted that in the area of SAT scores, the vast majority of Ridge students take the college entrance exam, while a more select group may take the test at some other high schools. 

"We have great students. We have wonderful students...the community supports us," Carlsson said. All of those factors go into making a district a success, she said.

For access to the state report card, click here.