Elizabeth Public Schools

School district in Union County, New Jersey, US

As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprising 36 schools, had an enrollment of 28,712 students and 2,173.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.2:1. 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.

In 2015, Elizabeth High School was one of 15 schools in New Jersey, and one of nine public schools, recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School in the exemplary high performing category by the United States Department of Education. In the 2008 09 school year, Victor Mravlag Elementary School No. 21 was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive. For the 2006 07 school year, William F. Halloran Alternative School #22 was one of four schools in New Jersey recognized with the Blue Ribbon Award. William F. Halloran Alternative School #22 earned a second award when it was one of 11 in the state to be recognized in 2014 by the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program. Terence C. Reilly was also recognized as a National Blue Ribbon school in 2013 and was recognized as a NJ School of Character and National School of Character. Terence C. Reilly is also an Apple Distinguished School and Top 25 in New Jersey. Terence C. Reilly School No. 7 was honored by the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program in 2019, one of nine schools in the state recognized as Exemplary High Performing Schools. In 2007, Dr. Albert Einstein Academy School No. 29 became one of 24 schools selected from across the United States and the only NASA Explore School in the state of New Jersey at that time. In the 2012 "High School Challenge" published by The Washington Post, a continuation of high school rankings formerly published in Newsweek, ranked Elizabeth High School as the best public high school in New Jersey, and the 76th best in the United States.

Battin High School was constructed in 1913 at 300 South Broad Street on the site of a mansion that had been donated to the city nearly 25 years earlier by Joseph Battin, president of the Elizabethtown Water Company, and namesake of the school. Originally operated on a coeducational basis, the school became female only starting in 1929, after Thomas Jefferson High School was constructed and dedicated to serve male students. In 1977, district officials stated that the inability to determine attendance zones for the two comprehensive high schools after Thomas Jefferson High School opened in 1929 combined with the expansive shop facilities in the new building, led the district to decide to split students by sex, with girls at Battin and boys at Thomas Jefferson. Battin High School and Thomas Jefferson High School were both closed at the end of the 1976 77 school year, after the Elizabeth High School complex was completed and all of the district's students, male and female, were accommodated at the new four building facility, ending the city's status as "the only community in the state with separate public high schools for boys and girls". The $29.3 million project included renovations to Thomas Jefferson High School, which was integrated into the new complex. The Battin High School building, together with the four existing junior high schools, was repurposed as a middle school for grades six through eight.

The district, with nearly 29,000 students, is the third largest in New Jersey. For 2016, the $507 million budget was mostly subsidized by state aid, which accounted for 82.6% of the district's budget, while property taxes covered 11.6% of the budget. The district's board of education, composed 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. The school board has long had a majority led Rafael Fajardo, a former school board president who has had at least six family members on the payroll. Although he is no longer on the panel, Fajardo had controlled the school system with the support of several board members.

At the end of the 2021 22 school year, negotiations between the Elizabeth Education Association, the labor union representing teachers in the Elizabeth Public Schools, had its contract expired while both the Elizabeth School District and the EEA worked on negotiations, leading to no agreement by June 29 when negotiations ended. On August 24, 2022, Elizabeth mayor Chris Bollwage threatened on Twitter to not give any promotions to teachers who if they go on strike. The tweet has to criticism from residents and staff members. During a board meeting of the Elizabeth Board of Education, EEA President John Griffin spoke to the board demanding that it respond to the Bollwage's Tweet, mentionign that state law does not have the power for the mayor to make staffing decisions and that mayor accused Griffin over planning a strike. A lawyer representing the teachers Union questioned the legality of the tweet including to the mayor, warning that he could face violations of the State School Ethics Act and that the tweet damaged the reputation of EEA President Griffin.