Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District: Governance, Finances, and Future Initiatives
The Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District is a suburban district located in Somerset County, New Jersey, serving students from the Township of Bridgewater and the Borough of Raritan. As the largest district in Somerset County and one of the largest suburban districts in the state, it plays a significant role in the education landscape of the region.
District Overview
The Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "I," the second-highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts.
The district operates various schools, including:
- Adamsville Primary School
- Bradley Gardens Primary School
- Crim Primary School
- Hamilton Primary School
- John F. Kennedy Primary School
- Milltown Primary School
- Van Holten Primary School
- Eisenhower Intermediate School
- Hillside Intermediate School
- Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School
- Bridgewater-Raritan High School
Former schools include the Valley School (closed 1984; now the Harmon V. Wade Municipal Building). Adamsville School, now an elementary school, was a middle school until 1983.
Board of Education: Governance and Recognition
The Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District is a Type II District located in Somerset County, New Jersey. The School District is an instrumentality of the State of New Jersey, established to function as an educational institution. The District is governed by a 9 member board elected to three-year terms and is responsible for the fiscal control of the District.
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The district's board of education is comprised of 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 either one or two 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 district's nine-member board of education is apportioned by population between Bridgewater and Raritan. Since the early 1990s, Bridgewater has elected eight of the board members and Raritan has elected one. Board members serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with three members up for election each year.
On Feb. 25, the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District Board of Education was presented with a plaque honoring it for earning board certification from the New Jersey School Boards Association. Board certification recognizes the entire board’s commitment to effective governance and continuous improvement through training.
Financial Management and Budget
School finances have been continuously discussed in the district. The district recently approved a budget where 33 staff positions were cut and a 2.46 percent tax increase. The district has done an incredible job maintaining the budget in light of statutory limits on budget increases coupled with rising costs all around. New Jersey residents saw towns around the state imposing double digit tax increases in order to deal with rising healthcare costs, continued transportation shortages, and other challenges. While other towns faced 5 - 20% increases in school taxes, the district administration was able to propose one of the lowest tax increases in the area at 2.49%. It is also important to comment on how transparent the administration was in the budgeting process this year. The Board began discussing budgetary challenges in January 2025, with Superintendent Beers informing the public about unprecedented healthcare cost increases and what that meant for the district. Over the following months, the administration worked tirelessly to reduce the budgetary impact to both our schools and the residents of Bridgewater and Raritan. Our Board takes very seriously the toll that taxes take on our residents and I believe that the prudent fiscal decisions made in this budgetary cycle speak to that.
Enrollment numbers in the district have been falling for a number of years. The district was able to keep the tax rate increase low due in part to staff reductions through attrition - when staff leave the district and it is deemed unnecessary to fill their role.
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A comparison of spending, as indicated in the Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending, reveals the following (note that the data is from NJDoE 2014 Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending):
- Total Spending: $17,614,39 to $18,891 (-6.8%)
- Budgetary Cost: $14,439 to $14,783 (-2.3%)
- Classroom Instruction: $9,227 to $8,763 (5.3%)
- Support Services: $1,954 to $2,392 (-18.3%)
- Administrative Cost: $1,495 to $1,485 (0.7%)
- Operations & Maintenance: $1,465 to $1,783 (-17.8%)
- Extracurricular Activities: $260 to $268 (-3.0%)
- Median Teacher Salary: $65,128 to $64,043
Key Issues and Initiatives
School Start Times and Transportation
The district is looking at adjusting its school start times, possibly later for high school students, and transportation options. Starting the school day so early has shown to be detrimental to their academic achievement as well as their mental wellness. For these reasons, the district is in favor of moving high school to a later start time. As a large district with 11 different schools, the prospect of revising start times is not without its challenges. There would be an adjustment period for both families and staff, but the administration has taken and will continue to take into consideration the impacts of this change and will make recommendation to the Board that is in the best interest of our overall student body.
Full-Day Kindergarten and School Renovations
Next year is going to be a year of incredible change. With the passage of the referendum by the residents of Bridgewater and Raritan, our schools are receiving once-in-a-generation renovations and the district will finally be able to offer full day kindergarten to all families in the district. With the addition of full day kindergarten in each of the 7 elementary schools, 4th and 6th graders will be transitioned into new schools, which will also involve curricular changes and staffing adjustments. Added to that is the previously mentioned adjustments to transportation, which would be necessary due to the grade transitioning even if it did not also meet the desire to change the high school start times. Any one of these changes would be an immense undertaking on its own. Our excellent administration and staff have already started preparing for these changes and will find creative solutions to any challenges that arise. This is an exciting time for our district. One of revitalization and building for the future. I look forward to seeing what our students can accomplish with these refreshed and expanded facilities at their disposal.
Board of Education Elections
Bridgewater's general election on Nov. 4 has seven candidates running for three open seats on the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional Board of Education. Board President Steven Singer, Board Vice President Emily Calistri, and Board member Lanfang "Lucy" Li are all running for re-election to the board. The candidate field includes four challengers: James Maloney, Kim Fajardo, Deanna Nye, and Ketrin Maxwell.
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