Paterson Public Schools

School district in Passaic County, New Jersey, US

As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of 50 schools, had an enrollment of 25,937 students and 1,916.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.5:1. For the 2014–15 school year, the district anticipated a budget with total expenditures of $591 million and per pupil spending of $16,696. The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "A", the lowest 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. Among the 594 students who took the SAT in 2013, the mean combined score was 1120 and there were 19 students (3.2% of those taking the exam) who achieved the combined score of 1550 that the College Board considers an indicator of college readiness, a decline from the 26 students (4.3%) who achieved the standard the previous year. District enrollment in Paterson surged at the start of the 2015–16 school year, creating a public school enrollment of 700 students higher than expected and putting the school district in a situation of needing to hire teachers rapidly not long after the district had laid off 300 positions.

The district is one of three districts in New Jersey (along with Newark Public Schools and Jersey City Public Schools) under "state intervention", which authorizes the commissioner of education to intervene in governance of a local public school district (and to intervene in the areas of instruction and program, operations, personnel, and fiscal management) if the commissioner has determined that a school district failed or was unable to take corrective actions necessary to establish a thorough and efficient system 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 2014) 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. The district voted in September 2013 voted by a 5 4 margin to move school elections from April to November. An attempt by members of the Paterson City Council in January 2022 to shift elections back to April failed after the vote ended in a 4 4 tie.