Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District

The Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District is a comprehensive regional public school district consisting of two four-year public high schools serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Franklin Lakes, Oakland, and Wyckoff, three suburban communities in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.[3][4][5] Students entering the district as freshmen have the option to attend either of the district's high schools, regardless of their residence, subject to a choice made during eighth grade.[6][7]

Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District
Address
131 Yawpo Avenue
Oakland
, Bergen County, 07436
United States
Coordinates41.019728°N 74.231052°W / 41.019728; -74.231052
District information
Grades9-12
SuperintendentDr. Rui Dionisio
Business administratorThomas Lambe
Schools2
Students and staff
Enrollment2,244 (as of 2020–21)[1]
Faculty217.6 FTEs[1]
Student–teacher ratio10.3:1[1]
Other information
District Factor GroupI
Websitewww.rih.org
Ind.Per pupilDistrict
spending		Rank
(*)		9-12
average		 %± vs.
average
1ATotal Spending$23,03936$18,89122.0%
1Budgetary Cost17,7733915,59214.0%
2Classroom Instruction9,440278,8077.2%
6Support Services2,660352,29416.0%
8Administrative Cost1,971451,59223.8%
10Operations & Maintenance2,369421,95421.2%
13Extracurricular Activities1,3024387349.1%
16Median Teacher Salary61,8071071,726
Data from NJDoE 2014 Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending.[2]
*Of 9-12 districts with any number of students. Lowest spending=1; Highest=47

As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of two schools, had an enrollment of 2,244 students and 217.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.3:1.[1]

The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "I", the second-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.[8]

History

With baby boomers filling the school beyond capacity, the Ramsey Public School District informed its sending districts of Franklin Lakes and Wyckoff in 1954 that it would no longer accept students from those two communities at Ramsey High School beyond the 1956-57 school year.[9] Oakland, which sent its students to Pompton Lakes High School, joined the other two districts in pursuing a joint regional high school.[10]

With Ramsey High School having already issued an ultimatum to its two Franklin Lakes, Oakland and Wyckoff (often called the FLOW district for the initial letters in the names of the three communities) approved the creation of a regional high school in 1954 by a vote of 1,060 to 51.[11] The name "Ramapo Regional High School District" was chosen for the district in February 1954 when the inaugural board of education was sworn in.[12]

By a nearly 3-1 margin, voters approved a February 1955 referendum that would cover the bulk of the $2.2 million (equivalent to $21.2 million in 2021) required for the 50-acre (20 ha) site and the construction of the school building.[13] A steel strike, bad weather and other construction obstacles delayed the opening of the new school building, forcing Ramapo High School to start the 1956-57 school year with evening sessions held at Eastern Christian High School in North Haledon, with the school day running from 2:45 to 7:00 PM.[14] Constructed with a capacity for 1,080 students, the new almost-finished Ramapo High School building in Franklin Lakes opened in January 1957 with an enrollment of 655.[15][16]

In the years after Ramapo High School opened, district enrollment rose from 650 to more than 2,000, ultimately requiring the school to operate with double sessions. Constructed at a cost of $3 million (equivalent to $26.2 million in 2021), Indian Hills High School in Oakland opened in September 1964 serving 575 students in grades 9-11 from Oakland and portions of Franklin Lakes.[17]

In 1999, the district allowed students from Franklin Lakes to choose which high school to attend, ending the policy under which students in the eastern half of Franklin Lakes were required to attend Ramapo High School while those in the borough's western half were assigned to Indian Hills High School. Oakland students were generally assigned to Indian Hills while Wyckoff residents could select which school to attend.[18]

Schools

Schools in the district (with 2020–21 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[19]) are:[20][21]

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are:[26]

  • Dr. Rui Dionisio, Superintendent[27]
  • Thomas Lambe, Business Administrator[28]

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.[29][30] Seats on the board are allocated based on the population of the constituent municipalities, with four seats allocated to Wyckoff, three to Oakland and two to Franklin Lakes.[31]

References
  1. District information for Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 15, 2022.
  2. Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending April 2013, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 15, 2013.
  3. Ramapo Indian Hills Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District. Accessed March 16, 2020. "Purpose: The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades nine through twelve in the Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District. Composition: The Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Franklin Lakes, Oakland, and Wyckoff."
  4. Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District 2016 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed March 16, 2020. "The Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District serves students from Franklin Lakes, Oakland, and Wyckoff in a comprehensive two-campus setting. Students from the three communities may choose which of the two high schools they wish to attend for their four-year high school experience."
  5. Sending Districts - FLOW Schools, Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District. Accessed March 16, 2020.
  6. Van Dusen, Matthew. "Ramapo-Indian Hills schools chief to retire.", The Record (Bergen County), October 24, 2007. Accessed March 16, 2020. "Later, parents of Oakland students protested their lack of choice, and students in Wyckoff, Franklin Lakes and Oakland can now attend either school."
  7. 8th Grade School Choice, Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District. Accessed March 16, 2020. "All eighth grade students from Franklin Lakes, Oakland, and Wyckoff may choose to attend the high school of their choice...."
  8. NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed October 12, 2014.
  9. Staff. "Enrollments Tax Schools In Bergen; Auxiliary Rooms Are Being Converted for Classes and Construction Is Pushed", The New York Times, September 4, 1954. Accessed November 14, 2017. "Crowding is a critical problem in the high schools of the triangular area embracing Wyckoff, Franklin Lakes and Oakland. They have united in a plan for a regional high school. How soon this plant will be ready is problematical, but there is pressure in the fact that Wyckoff and Franklin Lakes students will not be accepted at Ramsey High School after the fall of 1956."
  10. "Regional High At Polls Jan. 26", The Morning Call, January 14, 1954. Accessed April 6, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Wyckoff, Franklin Lakes and Oakland voters will go to the polls at a special election Tuesday, Jan. 26 to vote on whether or not they, approve Board of Education plans for a regional high school for the three towns. Wyckoff and Franklin Lakes now send pupils to Ramsey High school and Oakland sends to Pompton Lakes High School."
  11. "Voters Okay Three-Town High School", Ridgewood Herald-News, January 28, 1954. Accessed April 6, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "A new regional high school district to include Wyckoff, Franklin Lakes and Oakland received overwhelming approval Tuesday night as residents of the three towns voted 1,060 to 51 in favor of its formation.... Wyckoff and Franklin Lakes have already been informed by Ramsey High School to which they send senior high pupils that the school can accommodate them only until other arrangements can be made, Oakland is momentarily expecting a similar ultimatum from Pompton Lakes which Its students attend."
  12. "'Ramapo Regional HS District' Is Name Selected As 3 Towns Organize Joint School Board", The Morning Call, February 12, 1954. Accessed April 6, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "The new 'Ramapo Regional High School District' officially came into being last night with the organization of the nine-member regional Board of Education, here. The three towns involved are Wyckoff, Oakland and Franklin Lakes."
  13. "High School Is Approved, 3-1", The Wyckoff News, March 3, 1955. Accessed April 6, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "It was full speed ahead this week on plans for the Ramapo Regional High School on the heels of Thursday night's electorate approval of the $1,947,000 bond issue for construction of the building that will open in September, 1956, to serve Franklin Lakes, Wyckoff and Oakland.... The total cost of the school project, which has been in various stages of planning for about four years, is estimated at $2,200,000 for land, building and equipment. The expansive, one-story structure will be located on a 50-acre site at the Franklin Lakes-Wyckoff boundary."
  14. "Quick Change Turns Eastern Christian High School Into Ramapo Regional High", Paterson Evening News, September 11, 1956. Accessed April 6, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "But in the Eastern Christian High School in North Haledon, the desk seats are still warm when the school is taken over by students and faculty of the uncompleted Ramapo Regional High School. The normal day students depart by 2:30 p.m. and by 2:45 the 14 buses transporting 660 regional students arrive."
  15. "School Bell Heralds Opening Of Ramapo Regional High; Students Make Smooth Transfer To Long-Awaited Daytime Classes", Ridgewood Herald-News, January 3, 1957. Accessed April 6, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "The ringing of a school bell at 8:30 a.m. yesterday heralded the long-awaited opening of the new Ramapo Regional High School for a current student body of 655 sent from the towns of Franklin Lakes, Wyckoff and Oakland.... Through a series of delays and setbacks, not the least of which was a steel strike, the school has experienced three different opening dates: the start of last falls term, then Dec. 1, and finally Jan. 2. The new building has been functionally constructed for 1,080 students.... The students enjoyed a long Christmas vacation that began on Dec. 14, after months of night classes in the Eastern Christian School, North Haledon."
  16. "Students Study As Workmen Work", The Wyckoff News, January 3, 1957. Accessed April 6, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Ramapo Regional High School students attended their first classes in the new school on Wednesday morning after attending school at Eastern Christian High School all Fall."
  17. Mulligan, Nancy. "Ramapo District Welcomes Indian Hills", The Sunday News, August 19, 1964. Accessed April 6, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Indian Hills High School, although located in Oakland, is not an Oakland School. It is an active part of the Ramapo Regional High School District. Although, because of its location, its student body will be made up mostly of Oakland youngsters, some Franklin Lakes students will also attend.... All Franklin Lakes students living within that distance will attend Indian Hills High. For this year only, Indian Hills will operate as a partial school, with only freshmen, sophomores and juniors.... Indian Hills this year, with only three classes, will have 575 students to start.... A bond issue approved by the voters in Oakland, Franklin Lakes and Wyckoff, the three communities within the District, totaled $2,865,000. An additional $200,000 was raised, and the total expenditure will include construction, equipment and athletic facilities."
  18. Aberback, Brian. "Split's end turns out successful", The Record, June 29, 2003. Accessed April 6, 2022. "Four years ago, the students in the classes of 2003 at Ramapo High in Franklin Lakes and Indian Hills High in neighboring Oakland were the first to enter the district after the school board abolished a controversial policy known as the 'Franklin Lakes split' The policy determined which of the two high schools students from Franklin Lakes could attend. It created a suburban soap opera in Northwest Bergen County, replete with feelings of bitterness and resentment and accusations of class elitism. Under the policy, students from the more affluent east side of well-to-do Franklin Lakes went to Ramapo. Students on the west side had to go to Indian Hills, regarded as a fine school but not quite the equal of Ramapo in some respects..... In 1999, after years of debate, the 27-year-old split was abolished, giving all students from Franklin Lakes a choice between the two schools."
  19. School Data for the Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 15, 2022.
  20. School Performance Reports for the Ramapo-Indian Hills Regional School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 1, 2022.
  21. New Jersey School Directory for the Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 29, 2016.
  22. Indian Hills High School, Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District. Accessed April 6, 2022.
  23. Administration, Indian Hills High School. Accessed April 6, 2022.
  24. Ramapo High School, Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District. Accessed April 6, 2022.
  25. Administration, Ramapo High School. Accessed April 6, 2022.
  26. New Jersey School Directory for Bergen County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 29, 2016.
  27. Superintendent, Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District. Accessed March 16, 2020.
  28. Business Office, Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District. Accessed March 16, 2020.
  29. 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.
  30. Comprehensive Annual Financial Report of the Ramapo-Indian Hills Regional High School District, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2019. Accessed June 1, 2020. " The school district is comprised of two high school buildings: Ramapo High School originally built in 1956 and Indian Hills High School built in 1964.... The Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District (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 from the Boroughs of Franklin Lakes and Oakland, and from the Township of Wyckoff. The Board 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."
  31. Board Members, Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District. Accessed March 16, 2020. "The Board of Education is comprised of nine citizens who are elected by the public in the November general election. Each member serves a three year term. Representatives are elected from each of the constituent districts based on population. Currently, there are four representatives from Wyckoff, three from Oakland and two from Franklin Lakes."
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.