Lower Cape May Regional School District


The Lower Cape May Regional School District is regional public school district headquartered in Lower Township, New Jersey, United States, that serves students in seventh through twelfth grades through from four communities in Cape May County, including Lower Township, Cape May City and West Cape May, with students from Cape May Point attending as part of a sending/receiving relationship.
The district's board of education consists of nine members, of which seven members are from Lower Township, and one member each from both Cape May and West Cape May. Three members are elect each year to three-year terms of office.
As of the 2017-18 school year, the district and its two schools had an enrollment of 1,365 students and 122.7 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 11.1:1.
The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "B", the second 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.

History

, the city of Cape May contributed $6.5 million in property taxes to cover the 67 students from the city attending the district, an average of $97,300 per student. Cape May officials have argued that the district's funding formula based on assessed property values unfairly penalizes Cape May, which has higher property values and a smaller number of high school students as a percentage of the population than the other constituent districts, especially Lower Township; Cape May has 6% of students while its share of property taxes for the district is one third. A change to base contributions on the number of students would cut property taxes in Cape May by $1,250 per home and in West Cape May by almost $1,100, while taxes for the average homeowner in Lower Township would increase by more than $400. In 2012, Cape May contributed $6 million in property taxes and sent 120 students to the regional district, an average of $50,000 per student.
In 2013, the Lower Cape May Regional School District received a feasibility study that would look at ways to reconfigure the district, which had been established in 1956. The study considered Cape May City withdrawing from the regional district or the dissolution of the district, converting the existing PreK-6 Lower Township School District to serve PreK-12, as the regional district's school facilities are located in the township. Cape May City and West Cape May could see annual savings approaching a combined $6 million from the dissolution.

Schools

Schools in the district are:
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. Seats on the board are allocated based on population, with Lower Township assigned seven seats and Cape May and West Cape May assigned one seat each.