JACKSON TOWNSHIP, NJ – There are 7,609 students enrolled in the Jackson Township public school district. At its peak, the Jackson Township school district had 10,000 students, according to former superintendent Steven Genco.
Over the past ten years, those numbers have been declining. In 2023, the district estimates the total student population to be 7,609.
That decline is also partially responsible for the decline in state funding to the district, but the overall student population in Jackson is rapidly rising.
It’s a problem that isn’t new to the state or even the county. Neighboring Lakewood Township experienced the same enrollment issues in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Private school students now account for more than half of the total student population in town.
According to the district, there are 4,750 private school students.
The overall student body in Jackson has increased by 28% over the past 10 years, from 10,000 to roughly 12,000 children in public and private schools.
This is due in part to a rise in private school students among the township’s growing Orthodox Jewish community. Those students typically attend private schools in Lakewood and other areas.
The surge in population has also created the need for private schools to be built in Jackson. Currently, no private schools are catering to Orthodox Jewish students in Jackson.
That’s about to change as proposals and approvals to as many as ten private schools are at different stages of approvals and hearings in the township.
In the near future, the private school enrollment population is expected to surpass the public school enrollment, creating difficulties for the district.
Township officials are lobbying Trenton legislators and Governor Phil Murphy to fix the school funding formula to account for towns like Jackson, where an unusually high rate of students are in private schools. That formula penalizes students both in private and public schools by cutting state funding for education.
Additionally, the Jackson School District is required to pay for bussing private students to out-of-town schools but is not compensated for those expenses in the state mandate to provide bussing.
The district receives $601,000 annually in state-funded transportation aid.
This article has been corrected to reflect an accurate number of private school students.