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Jersey City Public Schools, New Jersey

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Jersey City Public Schools
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Jersey City, New Jersey
District details
Superintendent: Norma Fernandez
# of school board members: 9
Website: Link

Jersey City Public Schools is a school district in New Jersey.

Click on the links below to learn more about the school district's...

Superintendent

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 		This information is updated as we become aware of changes. Please contact us with any updates.

Norma Fernandez is the superintendent of Jersey City Public Schools. Fernandez was appointed as superintendent on June 30, 2022. Fernandez's previous career experience includes working as the district's interim superintendent, deputy superintendent, and as a teacher.[1]

Past superintendents

  • Franklin Walker was the superintendent of Jersey City Public Schools. Walker was appointed as superintendent on December 16, 2019 and retired on December 31, 2021.[2][3] Walker's previous career experience includes working as the district's interim superintendent and associate superintendent.[4][5]

School board

The Jersey City Board of Education consists of nine members elected to three-year terms. Board members are elected at large.[8]


Office Name Date assumed office
Jersey City Public Schools Board of Education At-large George Blount January 5, 2024
Jersey City Public Schools Board of Education At-large Natalia Ioffe January 5, 2022
Jersey City Public Schools Board of Education At-large Dejon Morris January 5, 2024
Jersey City Public Schools Board of Education At-large Afaf Muhammad January 5, 2023
Jersey City Public Schools Board of Education At-large Alpa B. Patel January 5, 2024
Jersey City Public Schools Board of Education At-large Tia Rezabala January 8, 2025
Jersey City Public Schools Board of Education At-large Matthew Schneider January 8, 2025
Jersey City Public Schools Board of Education At-large Christopher Tisdale January 5, 2023
Jersey City Public Schools Board of Education At-large Noemi Velazquez January 2, 2020

Elections

See also: Jersey City Public Schools, New Jersey, elections

Members of the Jersey City Public Schools Board of Education are elected to three-year terms. Elections are held in November each year.

Three seats on the board are up for general election on November 4, 2025. The filing deadline was July 28, 2025

Ballotpedia covered school board elections in 367 school districts in 29 states in 2024. Those school districts had a total student enrollment of 12,203,404 students. Click here to read an analysis of those elections.


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Public participation in board meetings

The Jersey City Public Schools Board of Education maintains the following policy on public testimony during board meetings:[9]

“ Public Participation in Board Meetings

The Board of Education recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues and the importance of allowing members of the public to express themselves on school matters of community interest.

In order to permit the fair and orderly expression of such comment, the Board shall set aside a portion of every Board meeting, the length of the portion to be determined by the Board, for public comment on any school or school district issue that a member of the public feels may be of concern to the residents of the school district.

Public participation shall be governed by the following rules:

1. Requests to speak may be made up until 3:00 p.m. on the day of the Board meeting by calling in the request to the office of the secretary to the board at 201-915-6074 or by emailing boarddocs@jcboe.org. The individual submitting a request to speak shall include the individual’s name, telephone number, the date of the meeting. A JCPS student submitting a request to speak shall identify the school the student attends.
2. A participant must be recognized by the presiding officer and must preface comments by an announcement of his/her name, municipality of residence, and group affiliation, if applicable.
3. The public comment portion of the Board's in-person, regular voting meeting shall be limited to 90 minutes. Participants may appear in-person or may participate via Zoom or by telephone. However, at the discretion of the Chair and/or Board President, public comment may be extended by an additional 30 minutes under extenuating circumstances.
Each statement made by a participant shall be limited to three minutes duration, and may be reduced to two to one minutes-depending upon the quantity of speakers.
For the Board's regular voting meeting, public comment by members of the public shall be bifurcated in accordance with Bylaw 0164; i.e. public comment on agenda items only and public comment immediately prior to the adjournment of the meeting. Those members of the public requesting to speak on agenda items only, shall identify to the Chair and/or Board President those the agenda item(s) upon which she/he seeks to comment. Each statement made by a participant shall be limited to three minutes duration and may be reduced to two to one minutes depending upon the quantity of speakers.
However, JCPS students who sign up for public comment may speak on both agenda and non-agenda items during the time reserved for "Student Public Comment" which shall immediately precede the public comment section for agenda items only. Each statement made by a student participant shall be limited to three minutes duration and may be reduced to two to one minutes depending upon the quantity of speakers.
4. No participant may speak more than once on the same topic until all others who wish to speak on that topic have been heard.
5. All statements, questions, or inquiries shall be directed to the presiding officer and any questions or inquiries directed by a participant to another Board member shall be redirected to the presiding officer who shall determine if such statement, question, or inquiry shall be addressed by the presiding officer on behalf of the Board or by the individual Board member;
6. The presiding officer may:
a. Interrupt, warn, and/or terminate a participant’s statement, question, or inquiry when it is too lengthy;
b. Interrupt and/or warn a participant when the statement, question, or inquiry is abusive, obscene, or may be defamatory;
c. Request any person to leave the meeting when that person does not observe reasonable decorum;
d. Request the assistance of law enforcement officers in the removal of a disorderly person when that person prevents or disrupts a meeting with an act that obstructs or interferes with a meeting;
e. Call for a recess or an adjournment to another time when the lack of public decorum interferes with the orderly conduct of the meeting; and
f. Waive these rules when necessary for the protection of privacy or to maintain an orderly operation of the Board meeting.[10]
 ”

District map

School district map

Budget

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[11]

Revenue, 2020-2021
SOURCE AMOUNT AMOUNT PER STUDENT PERCENT
Federal: $55,580,000 $2,075 7%
Local: $285,362,000 $10,655 34%
State: $504,682,000 $18,844 60%
Total: $845,624,000 $31,574
Expenditures, 2020-2021
TYPE AMOUNT AMOUNT PER STUDENT PERCENT
Total Expenditures: $776,427,000 $28,990
Total Current Expenditures: $632,243,000 $23,607
Instructional Expenditures: $398,779,000 $14,889 51%
Student and Staff Support: $89,590,000 $3,345 12%
Administration: $50,423,000 $1,882 6%
Operations, Food Service, Other: $88,025,000 $3,286 11%
Total Capital Outlay: $2,514,000 $93
Construction: $1,052,000 $39
Total Non El-Sec Education & Other: $29,789,000 $1,112
Interest on Debt: $370,000 $13


Teacher salaries

The following salary information was pulled from the district's teacher salary schedule. A salary schedule is a list of expected compensations based on variables such as position, years employed, and education level. It may not reflect actual teacher salaries in the district.

Year Minimum Maximum
2023-2024[12] $63,440 $112,403

Academic performance

Each year, state and local education agencies use tests and other standards to assess student proficiency. Although the data below was published by the U.S. Department of Education, proficiency measurements are established by the states. As a result, proficiency levels are not comparable between different states and year-over-year proficiency levels within a district may not be comparable because states may change their proficiency measurements.[13]

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific Islander (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native American (%) Two or More Races (%) White (%)
2020-2021 16 45 6 9 <=20 35-39 24
2018-2019 33 64 16 26 21-39 55-59 45
2017-2018 32 62 17 27 40-59 50-54 43
2016-2017 30 58 16 25 40-59 40-44 39
2015-2016 29 58 16 24 40-59 35-39 39
2014-2015 24 49 13 20 30-39 45-49 34
2013-2014 62 83 48 61 60-79 45-49 73
2012-2013 63 82 49 62 80-89 60-64 72
2011-2012 61 82 48 60 70-79 40-44 71
2010-2011 59 79 45 60 70-79 >=50 69

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific Islander (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native American (%) Two or More Races (%) White (%)
2020-2021 38 62 26 32 40-59 55-59 45
2018-2019 49 76 34 46 40-59 65-69 56
2017-2018 48 74 33 44 40-59 60-64 56
2016-2017 44 70 30 40 60-79 50-54 50
2015-2016 42 68 28 39 40-59 40-44 48
2014-2015 33 56 21 29 50-59 55-59 40
2013-2014 52 74 41 51 60-79 45-49 60
2012-2013 52 72 41 51 70-79 40-44 59
2011-2012 51 71 41 49 60-69 45-49 55
2010-2011 50 71 39 50 70-79 >=50 59

The following table shows the graduation rate of district students each school year:

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific Islander (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native American (%) Two or More Races (%) White (%)
2019-2020 77 85-89 76 73 >=50 >=50 80-84
2018-2019 75 85-89 68 74 PS >=50 80-84
2017-2018 79 90-94 72 77 PS >=80 85-89
2016-2017 78 85-89 71 77 >=50 PS 80-84
2015-2016 75 90-94 64 74 >=80 PS 85-89
2014-2015 74 90-94 66 72 >=50 >=50 80-84
2013-2014 67 85-89 58 63 >=50 PS 85-89
2012-2013 67 90 58 65 <50 75-79
2011-2012 67 89 57 67 >=80 PS 75-79
2010-2011 70 85-89 61 71 >=50 PS 80-84


Students

Year Enrollment Year-to-year change (%)
2022-2023 26,647 -1.8
2021-2022 27,134 1.3
2020-2021 26,782 -8.7
2019-2020 29,113 -0.5
2018-2019 29,255 -1.3
2017-2018 29,634 -0.1
2016-2017 29,659 -1.4
2015-2016 30,063 -2.6
2014-2015 30,845 10.6
2013-2014 27,571 2.0
2012-2013 27,028 -1.4
2011-2012 27,397 -25.9
2010-2011 34,505 19.8
2009-2010 27,670 -0.6
2008-2009 27,832 -1.0
2007-2008 28,117 -2.8
2006-2007 28,910 -1.3
2005-2006 29,288 -3.1
2004-2005 30,199 -16.4
2003-2004 35,161 11.1
2002-2003 31,259 -0.7
2001-2002 31,493 0.5
2000-2001 31,347 -1.0
1999-2000 31,669 0.0
Racial Demographics, 2022-2023
RACE Jersey City Public Schools (%) New Jersey K-12 STUDENTS (%)
American Indian/Alaska Native 0.3 0.2
Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander 17.5 10.2
Black 25.6 14.7
Hispanic 38.3 33.1
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 1.0 0.2
Two or More Races 1.7 3.0
White 15.6 38.5

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.


Staff

As of the 2022-2023 school year, Jersey City Public Schools had 2,094.00 full-time classroom teachers. The student-teacher ratio was 12.73.

Teachers, 2022-2023 school year
TYPE NUMBER OF TEACHERS
Prekindergarten: 201.50
Kindergarten: 16.00
Elementary: 780.00
Secondary: 573.50
Total: 2,094.00

Jersey City Public Schools employed 5.00 district administrators and 93.00 school administrators as of the 2022-2023 school year.

Administrators, 2022-2023 school year
TYPE NUMBER OF ADMINISTRATORS
District Administrators: 5.00
District Administrative Support: 147.00
School Administrators: 93.00
School Administrative Support: 97.00
Other staff, 2022-2023 school year
TYPE NUMBER OF OTHER STAFF
Instructional Aides: 563.00
Instruc. Coordinators & Supervisors: 77.00
Total Guidance Counselors: 69.00
Elementary Guidance Counselors: 0.00
Secondary Guidance Counselors: 0.00
Librarians/Media Specialists: 16.00
Library/Media Support: 0.00
Student Support Services: 285.00
Other Support Services: 626.00


Schools

Jersey City Public Schools operates 39 schools. They are listed below in alphabetical order.
List of schools
SCHOOL NAMENUMBER OF STUDENTSGRADES
Academy I4036-8
Alexander D. Sullivan School629PK-5
Alfred Zampella School802PK-8
Chaplain Charles Watters School697PK-8
Charles E. Trefurt School648PK-5
Christa Mcauliffe School918PK-8
Cornelia F. Bradford School962PK-5
Dr. Charles P. Defuccio School302PK-8
Dr. Maya Angelou Elementary School674PK-5
Dr. Michael Conti School672PK-8
Dr. Paul Rafalides School364PK-4
Dr Ronald Mcnair High School7019-12
Ezra L. Nolan School2346-8
Franklin L. Williams School8546-8
Frank R Conwell School507PK-5
Gladys Nunery School273PK-5
Henry Snyder High School8499-12
Infinity Institute3266-12
Innovation High School2729-12
James F. Murray School805PK-8
James J Ferris High School1,3489-12
Joseph H. Brensinger School1,092PK-8
Jotham W. Wakeman School598PK-5
Julia A. Barnes School340PK-8
Liberty High School1949-12
Lincoln High School9429-12
Mahatma K. Gandhi School1,001PK-8
Martin Center For The Arts425PK-8
Martin Luther King Jr. School776PK-8
Middle School # 46696-8
Nicolaus Copernicus School521PK-5
Ollie Culbreth Jr. School422PK-8
Patricia M. Noonan School Ps #26529PK-5
President Barack Obama Elementary School420PK-8
Rafael Cordero Y Molina735PK-8
Regional Day School71PK-12
Rev. Dr. Ercel F. Webb School741PK-5
Whitney M. Young Jr. School655PK-8
William L Dickinson High School2,0249-12

Contact information

Jersey City Public Schools logo.jpg
Jersey City Public Schools
346 Claremont Ave.
Jersey City, NJ 07305
Phone: 201-915-6000


About school boards

Education legislation in New Jersey

Bills are monitored by BillTrack50 and sorted by action history.

See also

New Jersey School Board Elections News and Analysis
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External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ nj.com, "Norma Fernandez will be approved as permanent Jersey City schools superintendent, sources say," accessed July 7, 2022
  2. ↑ The Jersey Journal, "Jersey City BOE appoints Franklin Walker as permanent superintendent," December 17, 2019
  3. ↑ nj.com, "Norma Fernandez will be approved as permanent Jersey City schools superintendent, sources say," accessed July 7, 2022
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Hudson County View, "Jersey City BOE fires Superintendent Lyles, appoints Walker as temporary replacement," February 1, 2019
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Hudson Reporter, "Lyles removed," February 1, 2019
  6. ↑ Terrence T. McDonald, NJ.com, "Jersey City school board appoints new superintendent after raucous three-hour hearing," August 31, 2012
  7. ↑ New York City Department of Education, "Deputy Chancellor Marcia Lyles Leaving to Become Superintendent of Delaware's Christina School District," May 20, 2009
  8. ↑ Jersey City Public Schools, "Board Docs," accessed May 19, 2021
  9. ↑ Jersey City Public Schools, "District Policy," accessed April 18, 2025
  10. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  11. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed June 17, 2024
  12. ↑ Teacher Catalina, "Jersey City, New Jersey City Teacher Salary 2023 – 2024," September 21, 2023
  13. ↑ U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC: EDFacts, "State Assessments in Reading/Language Arts and Mathematics- School Year 2018-19 EDFacts Data Documentation," accessed February 25, 2021
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