The district is classified by the
New Jersey Department of Education as being in
District Factor Group "A", the 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.[7]
Core members of the district's administration are:[20][21]
Clara Brito Herrera, superintendent
Dean Austin, business administrator and board secretary
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. 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 in April. 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]
Of the nearly 600 school districts statewide, West New York is one of 12 districts with school elections in April, in which voters also decide on passage of the annual school budget.[23] Under a state law passed in 2012, West New York shifted elections from April to November in 2014[24] but voted in 2019 to shift elections back to April.[25]
^West New York Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, West New York School District. Accessed March 10, 2021. "Purpose The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades Pre-Kindergarten through twelve in the West New York School District. Composition The West New York School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of West New York in the County of Hudson."
^What We Do: History,
New Jersey Schools Development Authority. Accessed March 1, 2022. "In 1998, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in the Abbott v. Burke case that the State must provide 100 percent funding for all school renovation and construction projects in special-needs school districts. According to the Court, aging, unsafe and overcrowded buildings prevented children from receiving the "thorough and efficient" education required under the New Jersey Constitution.... Full funding for approved projects was authorized for the 31 special-needs districts, known as 'Abbott Districts'."
^Board Trustees, West New York School District. Accessed March 10, 2021.
^Sportelli, Albina.
"Your guide to North Jersey spring school board elections", The Record, April 14, 2023. Accessed March 15, 2024. "Of New Jersey's almost 600 school districts, only 12 have elections in April, the rest have opted to hold theirs in November.... Schools that have kept elections in the spring, or switched back after moving them to November, are: Cliffside Park, Fairview, Passaic, Totowa, Fredon, Montague, Irvington, Newark, North Bergen, Weehawken, West New York and New Brunswick."