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Fredon Township School District (FTSD) is a community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade from Fredon Township, in Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

As of the 2022–23 school year, the district, comprising one school, had an enrollment of 181 students and 21.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 8.6:1.

The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "GH", the third-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.

Students in seventh through twelfth grade for public school attend Kittatinny Regional High School located in Hampton Township, which serves students who reside in Fredon Township, Hampton Township, Sandyston Township, Stillwater Township and Walpack Township. The high school is located on a 96-acre (39 ha) campus in Hampton Township, about seven minutes outside of the county seat of Newton. As of the 2020–21 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 843 students and 91.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.2:1. Kittatinny Regional High School was recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence in 1997–98.

In the wake of protests by parents about the exposure of students to electromagnetic fields and threats by the district to close the school, PSE&G agreed in 2011 to contribute $950,000 towards a construction project that would relocate a playground that had been situated near high voltage lines that pass by the school.

Awards and recognition

Fredon School was awarded the National Blue Ribbon Award for Academic Excellence in November 2001, the highest level of recognition granted to an American school.

Schools

Fredon Township School had an enrollment of 175 students in grades PreK-6 as of the 2020–21 school year.

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are:

• Brian Kitchin, superintendent
• Rianna Ketch, business administrator and board secretary

Board of education

The district's board of education, comprised 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 in April. 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.

Of the nearly 600 school districts statewide, Fredon is one of 12 districts with school elections in April, in which voters also decide on passage of the annual school budget. After a change in state law in 2012, the district moved its school elections from April to November. In both 2018 and 2019, the township council voted to move elections back to April, but each time the school board voted to keep the elections in November. In November 2020, voters approved a referendum question that had been placed on the ballot by citizen initiative and approved by a 3-1 margin the change to shift elections back to April.

References

1. ^ District information for Fredon Township School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 1, 2024.
2. Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending April 2013, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 15, 2013.
3. Fredon Township Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Fredon Township School District. Accessed January 27, 2024. "Purpose: The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades Kindergarten through six in the Fredon Township School District. Composition: The Fredon Township School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Fredon Township in the County of Sussex."
4. Public School Directory 2023-2024, Sussex County, New Jersey. Accessed March 1, 2024.
5. School Performance Reports for the Fredon Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 3, 2024.
6. New Jersey School Directory for the Fredon Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.
7. NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 7, 2014.
8. Kittatiny Regional School District 2015 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed May 28, 2016. "Located in beautiful, rural Sussex County in northwest New Jersey, Kittatinny Regional School District serves the five municipalities of Fredon Township, Hampton Township, Sandyston Township, Stillwater Township and the Township of Walpack. The District is comprised of 125 square miles and has a school population of approximately 1100 students."
9. School data for Kittatinny Regional High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 15, 2022.
10. ^ Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982-1983 through 1999-2002 (PDF), National Blue Ribbon Schools Program. Accessed March 23, 2011.
11. Moszczynski, Joe. "Sussex County school plans to move playground from high-voltage lines", The Star-Ledger, January 30, 2011. Accessed December 7, 2014. "After nearly a year’s delay, construction is expected to start this spring to reconfigure the grounds at the Fredon School in an effort to keep students away from high-voltage power lines."
12. School data for Fredon Township School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 15, 2022.
13. School Contact Information, Fredon Township School District. Accessed January 27, 2024.
14. New Jersey School Directory for Sussex County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.
15. Superintendent, Fredon Township School District. Accessed January 27, 2024.
16. 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.
17. Annual Comprehensive Financial Report of the Fredon Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2023. Accessed January 27, 2024. "The Fredon Township 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 five 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."
18. Board of Education, Fredon Township School District. Accessed January 27, 2024. "The Fredon Township Board of Education has 5 elected members and the Business Administrator and Superintendent are non-voting members."
19. Sportelli, Albina. "Your guide to North Jersey spring school board elections", The Record, April 14, 2023. Accessed March 15, 2024. "Of New Jersey's almost 600 school districts, only 12 have elections in April, the rest have opted to hold theirs in November.... Schools that have kept elections in the spring, or switched back after moving them to November, are: Cliffside Park, Fairview, Passaic, Totowa, Fredon, Montague, Irvington, Newark, North Bergen, Weehawken, West New York and New Brunswick."
20. Morel, Kyle; and Obernauer, Eric. "Fredon residents vote to restore taxpayers' vote on school budget", New Jersey Herald, November 5, 2020. Accessed March 15, 2024. "Residents overwhelmingly voted to move the Township school board election from November to April. Sussex County Board of Elections totals from Wednesday night show 1,313, or 77% of votes were cast in favor of moving the election to the third Tuesday in April from the November general election.... The Township Committee voted in 2018 and 2019 to move the election to April, only for the school board to restore it to November both times."

External links

• Fredon Township School District
• School Performance Report for Fredon Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education
• Data for Fredon Township School, National Center for Education Statistics
• Kittatinny Regional High School

v t e Education in Sussex County, New Jersey
School districts	K-6 Fredon Township Hampton Township Sandyston-Walpack Stillwater Township K-8 Andover Regional Byram Township Frankford Township Franklin Green Township Hamburg Hardyston Township Lafayette Township Montague Township Ogdensburg Stanhope Sussex-Wantage K-12 Hopatcong Newton Sparta Township Vernon Township 7-12 Kittatinny Regional High School 9-12 High Point Regional Lenape Valley Regional Sussex County Vocational Wallkill Valley Regional
Public high schools	High Point Regional Hopatcong Kittatinny Regional Lenape Valley Regional Newton HS Sparta HS Sussex County Technical School Vernon Township HS Wallkill Valley Regional
Private	Pope John XXIII Regional
Tertiary	Sussex County Community College
School districts by county: Atlantic Bergen Burlington Camden Cape May Cumberland Essex Gloucester Hudson Hunterdon Mercer Middlesex Monmouth Morris Ocean Passaic Salem Somerset Sussex Union Warren High schools by county Atlantic Bergen Burlington Camden Cape May Cumberland Essex Gloucester Hudson Hunterdon Mercer Middlesex Monmouth Morris Ocean Passaic Salem Somerset Sussex Union Warren

• Fredon Township, New Jersey
• New Jersey District Factor Group GH
• School districts in Sussex County, New Jersey
• Public elementary schools in New Jersey