Chester School District


The Chester School District is a fully accredited elementary public school district responsible for the education of students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grades from Chester Borough and Chester Township, two municipalities in Morris County, New Jersey, United States.
As of the 2017-18 school year, the district, comprising three schools, had an enrollment of 1,069 students and 110.0 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 9.7:1.
The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "J", the highest 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.
Students in public school for ninth through twelfth grades in both communities attend West Morris Mendham High School, which serves students from the surrounding Morris County school districts of Chester Borough, Chester Township, Mendham Borough and Mendham Township. The high school is part of the West Morris Regional High School District, which also serves students from Washington Township, who attend West Morris Central High School As of the 2017-18 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 1,241 students and 97.0 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 12.8:1.

Schools

Schools in the district are:
;Elementary schools
;Middle school
Dickerson and Bragg Schools are located on County Route 510, east of Chester Borough; Black River Middle School is on County Route 513, north of Chester Borough.

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are:
The district's board of education has nine members who set policy and oversee 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 as part of the November general election. As a consolidated school district, all residents in the two constituent municipalities vote for board members who represent the entire district, not just the municipality in which they reside.
In June 2015, a feasibility study was released that discussed potential changes to the West Morris Regional High School District. In one scenario, West Morris Mendham High School would be stripped away from the district to become a standalone regional high school for the Chesters and Mendhams. In the second scenario, the existing PreK-8 districts would be dissolved and combined with West Morris Mendham to create a consolidated PreK-12 district. In either scenario, Washington Township would take over West Morris Central High School and become its own PreK-12 district. Significant tax savings would have been achieved for the Chesters and Mendhams under both scenarios, with equivalent tax increases for Washington Township.