Foundation aims to boost school rankings

While school rankings are not a perfect way to measure administrator, teacher and student performance, they do matter.

Echoing national educational leaders and overseers, including the federal and state governments, the new all-volunteer Highlander Education Foundation seeks to help provide supplemental financial support and elevate the rankings of West Milford schools.

“School rankings provide a comparative measure on district and individual school quality and competitiveness, underlying academic and cultural programs, as well as extracurricular activities and diversity,” said Marisa Gough, co-founder of the foundation.

Gough, a 10-year West Milford resident with Jefferson roots, is the mother of two children who attend local schools.

“Rankings offer publicly available information on how our schools are performing against peer districts and schools in the area, state and across the country.”

Foundation co-founder Cortney Stephenson is a 19-year West Milford resident with three children attending district schools.

“While helping parents assess the ability of schools to educate their children, school rankings also influence a child’s future,” she said.

“School rankings and supporting data show the overall quality of education delivered and where our schools need to improve. Budget challenges, rising costs and program funding - especially for underserved and underperforming students - are among the challenges.”

Inspiring change

The foundation was formed as a tax-exempt charitable organization last September by Gough and Stephenson along with several women from various backgrounds serving on its board: Christina Duffy, secretary; Amy Lewis, treasurer; and Lisa Johnson, vice president.

The idea came from Gough attending Board of Education meetings about an elementary school closing and redistricting.

Impressed with a call by Stephenson, a former school board member, to save key programs, the women met and became forces for change.

“We sought to rise to the occasion and the need,” Gough said.

The initial initiative was to form a funding committee to support local schools and teachers. It quickly grew into the Highlander Education Foundation.

“Our mission is to raise awareness and provide funding for the West Milford School District, particularly at-risk programs, by raising funds and soliciting sponsorships across the community,” Gough said.

Stephenson added, “Our fundraising will include applying for financial grants to support our schools and teachers. Organizations and the government awarding grants look at school rankings and test scores as part of their determinations.”

Foundation committees include advocacy, allocations, audit, finance, fundraising, governance, nominating, and public relations.

Doing it differently

“Year one is formative to lay the groundwork for the foundation,” Stephenson said. “We have spent a lot of time on our plans and bylaws, working with legal counsel and accountants, and ensuring we are a well-established nonprofit with strong governance and accountability.”

Gough noted that the foundation’s vision differs from other education foundations.

“We are very focused on teachers and want to understand what they need to be successful to help students succeed,” she said. “We are engaging directly with teachers and gaining input from administrators and principals, who have already provided valuable insights.”

The foundation soon will poll local teachers in all grade levels about what needs to be done to ensure the success of the system, the schools and the students.

“Teachers have the pulse of what’s going on in schools and what’s needed in terms of resources, staff and programs,” Stephenson said. “Partnering with teachers is invaluable and essential.

“The foundation works on behalf of our students and teachers toward better representation where decisions are made for them at the local, county and state levels, including legislators.”

Gough and Stephenson have spoken with school board members and other officials, such as Mayor Michele Dale and state Sen. Anthony Bucco, all of whom have been supportive.

Bucco is working to secure a meeting of foundation representatives with officials in the state Department of Education.

Foundation board members were given the opportunity to speak at Back-to-School-Nights last fall, and they look forward to doing it again this year.

They have gained valuable insights from meetings and ongoing dialogue with other established education foundations, including those in Fairfield, Ringwood and Sparta.

The foundation is staging fundraising events, such as a Food Truck and Food Festival on Sunday, May 5. Event attendees are encouraged to donate nonperishable food, which will be given to the St. Joseph’s Church Food Pantry to help feed West Milford families in need.

A certified 5K run will be held Sept. 22 on Nosenzo Pond Road.

Cibo e Vino restaurant held a Dine to Donate event, and the foundation seeks sponsorships from other local businesses.

Already, its Facebook page has attracted more than 500 friends, who the co-founders believe share the same mindset of “being positive and showing that West Milford is a great town with supportive people and businesses that want to advance our school system.”

School rankings, state aid

Recently, U.S. News & World Report ranked West Milford High School as 284th in New Jersey, with Advanced Placement participation rate at 29 perccent. With an overall score of 48.09 out of 100, the high school ranked 17,655 nationally.

New Jersey’s public schools will see more than $900 million more in state aid for the 2024-25 school year, an $11.7 billion, or 8.4 percent, increase from the current year.

While state aid to some districts will increase, many, including West Milford, will see declines.

Passaic County schools with state aid increases include Woodland Park, up 29.46 percent; Wayne, up 17.2 percent; Paterson, up 10.26 percent, and Clifton, up 9.39 percent.

Passaic County districts receiving less aid are Hawthorne, down 18.51 percent, Lakeland Regional, down 8.13 percent, Pompton Lakes, down 4.13 percent, West Milford, down 1.46 percent, and Passaic Valley Regional, down 1.42 percent.

“Overall, West Milford schools are doing well, but we have been losing state funding for some nine years,” Gough said. “As a result of the S2 act and other factors, we have experienced cuts in the millions of dollars. As a community, we need to supplement school funding to ensure and improve the quality and standing of education in West Milford.”

Federal, state and local governments fund K-12 public education in the United States. Annual funding levels vary dramatically across the country, with an average range of $4,000 to $10,000 for students without disabilities and $10,000 to $20,000 for students with disabilities.

Upgrading facilities

“West Milford schools have a wonderful special-ed program, with skilled educators who are helping children collectively and one on one,” Stephenson said. “It’s not optimal to pay out-of-district costs. We want to keep all our students here in West Milford.

“Children who are below-grade need extra tutoring and supplemental intervention programs to elevate their skills. We want to help with funding to support those efforts.”

Early teacher feedback points to the need, too, to upgrade certain school facilities and resources for students and teachers.

“We want to help fund and advance our school’s guidance department, whose staff is lean yet has amazing further ideas to support students,” Stephenson said.

“We want to raise and provide funds to our schools and teachers, which is increasingly important in today’s environment.

“We also want to raise awareness throughout the community on the importance of school rankings and key programs, strengthen our school system, and eliminate misconceptions and actions that are harmful.”

She pointed out that school rankings are hurt by students opting out of standardized tests and chronic absenteeism, even excused absences with doctor notes.

“Parents and students need to know what impacts them today and tomorrow, and we want to bring that information to them through the foundation.”

It seeks involvement from all members of the community, including West Milford High School alumni, who have a desire to work collaboratively and positively for an important cause.

Volunteers are needed to help on committees, at events and fundraisers, and with social media, public relations and grant writing among other activities.

“We at the start of this important initiative and making sure we’re doing it right,” Gough said. “West Milford is a beautiful and unique township with a good school system yet not without challenges.”

Stephenson said, “We’re committed to the integrity and success of Highlander Education Foundation. We welcome the support and help from anyone who shares our vision.

“When our schools do well, West Milford does well.”