Schools
State Report Card: SPF's Per-Student Costs Lower than State Average
An overview of the swath of data published this week by the state's Department of Education.
The New Jersey Department of Education released data for its 2009-2010 "School Report Card" on Thursday. We compared several categories of data to the results from previous years. Perhaps most notably, the district's average cost-per-pupil was substantially lower than comparable schools and the state average. Read on for more.
Administrator Years of Experience and Salary
Scotch Plains-Fanwood's median administrator salary remained static at $129,668 from 2008 to 2010. That number is $11,773, or about 10 percent, higher than the 2009-2010 state median of $117,895. The median numbers of years of experience in Scotch Plains-Fanwood is also higher than the state median by three years.
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Median Salary 2008-2009 Median Years of Experience 2009-2010 Median Salary 2009-2010
State Average
(for district's with a high school)
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$126,028 Clark 15
$108,000 14 $119,000 Cranford 23
$115,130 24 $125,000 Elizabeth 18
$109,690 17 $107,594 Garwood 17
$88,482 16 $89,320 Hillside 26
$103,755 27 $107,245 Kenilworth 28
$118,664 21 $122,224 Linden 29
$119,805 23 $123,031 Mountainside 14
$117,000 15 $122,031 New Providence 11
$121,128 12 $126,215 Plainfield 15
$116,000 16 $124,150 Rahway 17
$108,622 17 $114,907 Roselle 13
$93,956 10 $93,956 Roselle Park 24 $104,138 25 $107,375 Scotch Plains 24
$129,668 16 $129,668 Springfield 16
$115,494 17 $115,379 Summit 28
$130,625 23 $134,768 Union County Vocational 16
$98,584 17 $101,413 Union 21
$114,950 22 $118,950 Westfield 21
$118,884 26 $127,656 Winfield 23
$95,760 24 $99,591
Faculty Years Experience and Median Salary
The median number of years of experience of Scotch Plains-Fanwood's faculty increased from eight years in 2008-2009 to nine years in 2009-2010. That remains one year less than the state average of 10 years.
The median salary rose $603, or 1 percent, to $60,368 in 2009-2010. It is $1,472 lower than the state median of $61,840.
Median Salary 2008-2009 Median Years of Experience 2009-2010 Median Salary 2009-2010 State Average 9 $59,545 10 $61,840 Berkeley Heights 9
$61,623 10 $61,602 Clark 9
$52,473 9 $54,365 Cranford 9
$58,571 9 $57,903 Elizabeth 8
$59,979 9 $63,239 Garwood 12
$53,021 10 $51,773 Hillside 8
$60,067 8 $62,740 Kenilworth 8
$61,170 9 $64,377 Linden 8
$56,773 9 $59,204 Mountainside 9
$54,592 10 $57,032 New Providence 9
$62,276 10 $65,112 Plainfield 12
$70,470 13 $70,970 Rahway 8
$57,069 8 $59,959 Roselle 7
$50,401 5 $52,347 Roselle Park 8
$57,347 8 $55,988 Scotch Plains 8
$59,765 9 $60,368 Springfield 8
$63,306 9 $66,251 Summit 10
$60,752 10 $66,289 Union County Vocational 4
$53,537 5 $54,317 Union 8
$61,586 8 $64,045 Westfield 9
$62,639 10 $65,230 Winfield 11
$50,579 12 $52,603
Cost per Pupil
There are two ways of calculating per-pupil expenditures, a comparative cost-per-pupil, which represents a comparison of districts with similar budget types, and a raw cost-per-pupil figure.
Scotch Plains-Fanwood's raw cost per pupil is $1,827 lower than the state average of $15,538. The comparative cost per pupil in Scotch Plains-Fanwood is $1,858 lower than the state average of $13,833.
Town Name Cost per pupil 2008-2009Comparative cost per pupil 2008-2009
Cost per pupil 2009-2010 Comparative cost per pupil 2009-2010 State average $15,221 $12,983 $15,538 $13,833 Berkeley Heights $14,664 $15,168 $14,907 $13,425 Clark $12,919 $11,430 $13,547 $12,158 Cranford $13,565 $12,646 $13,810 $12,831 Elizabeth $16,600 $15,217 $17,507 $16,242 Garwood $11,843 $11,217 $14,753 $10,868 Hillside $14,677 $12,510 $14,954 $12,950 Kenilworth $13,795 $12,163 $14,861 $13,145 Linden $16,129 $12,936 $16,469 $13,174 Mountainside $14,866 $12,860 $14,276 $12,409 New Providence $14,217 $12,960 $14,590 $13,245 Plainfield $15,308 $17,739 $14,710 $15,553 Rahway $13,672 $12,050 $14,428 $12,682 Roselle $16,775 $13,398 $17,730 $14,100 Roselle Park $13,876 $13,005 $14,436 $13,453 Scotch Plains $13,759 $11,973 $13,711 $11,975 Springfield $15,766 $13,698 $15,670 $13,685 Summit $15,003 $13,753 $15,729 $14,411 Union County Vocational $13,405 $12,243 $12,974 $12,194 Union $14,769 $11,859 $15,532 $12,364 Westfield $13,220 $11,781 $13,553 $12,009 Winfield $18,907 $18,151 $19,208 $18,371
Revenue
Scotch Plains-Fanwood's revenue sources changed slightly in 2009-2010. Funds from the local tax levy made-up 91 percent of the district's budget in 2009-2010, up 1 percent from 2008-2009. The district still received 6 percent from the state, 1 percent from the federal government, and 2 percent from "other" revenue sources in 2009-2010.
2009-2010 Revenue from Local Source State average 50% 51% Berkeley Heights 79% 80% Clark 79%
79% Cranford 84%
84% Elizabeth 11%
11% Garwood 80%
76% Hillside 51%
50% Kenilworth 74%
74% Linden 68%
68% Mountainside 77%
84% New Providence 88%
89% Plainfield 13%
14% Rahway 59%
59% Roselle 46%
44% Roselle Park 60%
60% Scotch Plains 90%
91% Springfield 91%
91% Summit 91%
93% Union County Vocational 21%
21% Union 54%
59% Westfield 89%
90% Winfield 45% 45%
Enrollment and class sizes
Enrollment numbers are based on students "on roll" as of October 2009. Overall, the district had 3,887 students in 2009-2010. This number is up from an enrollment of 3,729 in 2006-2007 when the Jefferson and Wilson Primary Centers didn't existand up from 2008-2009 when enrollment was 3,803.
- : Enrollment decreased by 2.1 percent to 1427 students in 2009-2010. The average class size at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School is 18.8 students, 0.6 students higher than the state average.
- : 875 students enrolled at Park Middle School in 2009-2010, up 6.3 percent from 2008-2009, and 17.3 percent from 2006-2007. The average class size is 22.4 students, 4.2 students higher than the state average.
- : 858 students enrolled at Terrill Middle School in 2009-2010, an increase of 1.3 percent from 2008-2009, and 0.7 decrease from 2006-2007. The average class size is 23.2, exactly five students higher than the state average.
- : In 2009-2010, 407 students enrolled at Brunner, a decrease of 56 students from 2008-2009, and 59 students from 2006-2007. On average, there were 15.7 students per class, which is 2.5 less than the state average.
- : Enrollment at Coles increased to 552 students in 2009-2010, up 33 students from 2008-2009, and 7 students from 2006-2007. There was an average of 19 students per class, 0.7 higher than the state average.
- : 420 students enrolled at Evergreen Elementary School in 2009-2010, a 3.7 percent increase compared to 2008-2009, and a 13.5 percent increase compared to 2006-2007. The average class size is 18.3, which is 0.1 higher than the state average.
- : There were 494 students enrolled at McGinn in 2009-2010, up from 474 students in 2008-2009 and 2006-2007. There were an average of 19.8 students per class, 1.6 more students than the state average.
- : Enrollment at School One remained mostly level from 2006 to 2010. There were 392 students enrolled at the school in 2009-2010, up by two from 2006-2007. There was an average of 17 students per class in 2009-2010, which is 1.2 lower than the state average.
Test scores
- HSPA, Language Arts Literacy: The number of students who achieved "advanced proficiency" in 2009-2010 rose to 28.1 percent, an increase of 10.2 percent compared to 2008-2009. Their overall scores far exceeded the state averages.
- HSPA, Mathematics: The number of students who earned advanced proficiency decreased slightly: from 44.8 percent in 2008-2009 to 43.3 percent in 2009-2010. Their overall scores far exceeded the state averages.
- AP Tests: Of the 515 students taking AP tests, 433 scored a 3 or better.
- SATs: The number of students taking the SATs rose 5 percent from 2008-2009 to 2009-2010, but was down 4 percent from 2007-2008. The number of students who took the test in 2009-2010 was 22 percent higher than the state average of 66 percent. The average SAT score in 2009-2010 was 1610 of 2400, up 14 points from 2008-2009. The state average in 2009-2010 was 1516.
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