As of the 2021–22 school year, the district, comprised of three schools, had an enrollment of 1,156 students and 109.7 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.5:1.[1]
The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "DE", the fifth-highest of eight groups. 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.[6]
History
Students from Butler attended high school in Paterson, New Jersey until Butler High School was opened in 1903. From the time the school opened, the school served students from much of Morris County, along with those from Bloomingdale, Ringwood, Wanaque and West Milford in Passaic County until they built their own schools or established alternate arrangements with other school districts.[7] In September 1954, the Butler district notified its eight sending communities that growing enrollment of borough residents would mean that there would be no space available at Butler High School and that the local districts serving students from Passaic County communities and Pequannock Township would have to make alternate arrangements by 1958.[8] While Pequannock, Ringwood and Wanaque met the 1958 deadline, West Milford left four years later and Jefferson Township, Kinnelon and Riverdale ended their sending relationship in 1964.[9]
The Academy for Law and Public Safety is a full-time, four-year high school program located at Butler High School. The Academy focuses on Law, Government and Public Affairs with concentrations in Law, Criminal Justice, Technology, Humanities and Law Enforcement. The academy was founded in September 2000, as a collaborative effort of the Morris County Vocational School District, the Butler Public Schools and the Morris County Board of County Commissioners.[17]
Administration
Core members of the district's administration are:[18][19]
Pamela Vargas, business administrator and board secretary[21]
Board 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. The Bloomingdale district sends a non-voting representative to the board. 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.[22][5][23]
^Butler Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Butler Public Schools. Accessed January 4, 2023. "Purpose The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades Kindergarten through twelve in the Butler School District. Composition: The Butler School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Butler."
^ abAnnual Comprehensive Financial Report for the Butler Public Schools, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2023. Accessed May 5, 2024. "Butler Borough School District is governed by a ten-member Board of Education, nine members of which are elected by District constituents to serve alternating 3-year terms, and one member from its sending district, Bloomingdale, who is appointed on an annual basis by the Bloomingdale Board of Education. The District provides a full range of educational services and programs appropriate to grade levels preschool handicapped/K through 12.... The District received high school students from Bloomingdale, in Passaic County, on a tuition basis. These students comprised 44.3% of the high school enrollment in the 2020 - 2021 school year." See "Roster of Officials" on page 16.
^Fagan, Matt. "Butler High School's Hall of Honor accepting nominations", The Record, September 12, 2017. Accessed September 13, 2017. "However, between 1906 and early 1960s, Butler was the high school for vast portions of Morris County and northwestern Passaic County and even portions of Sussex County, Wall said.... At one time the high school served as the regional high school for Bloomingdale, Jefferson, Kinnelon, Pequannock, Ringwood, Riverdale, Wanaque and West Milford. Before 1903, when Butler High School first opened its doors, graduates of the Butler Grammar School attended Paterson High School, Butler school board officials said."
^Staff. "Enrollments Tax Schools In Bergen; Auxiliary Rooms Are Being Converted for Classes and Construction Is Pushed", The New York Times, September 5, 1954. Accessed September 13, 2017. "Butler, in near-by Morris County, is taking drastic action to relieve congestion in its high school... Four of these 'sending districts' -- Riverdale, Jefferson Township, Kinnelon and Pequannock Township -- are in Morris County. The others -- Wanaque, Ringwood, West Milford and Bloomingdale -- are in Passaic County. Butler has given Pequannock Township and the four districts in Passaic until 1958 to complete withdrawal of their students."
^History of BHS, Butler High School. Accessed September 13, 2017. "Until 1903, graduates of the Butler Grammar School attended Paterson High School. In 1903, the district’s supervising principal, Mr. Clarence J. Howell, oversaw the establishment of Butler High School.... Ringwood, Wanaque and Pequannock withdrew in 1958, following by West Milford in 1962, and Kinnelon, Riverdale and Jefferson in 1964."
