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North Hunterdon‑Voorhees board reviews 2023–24 NJ school performance report, flags chronic absenteeism
Summary
District director Richard Groan presented the New Jersey School Performance Report for 2023–24, noting strong graduation and AP/SAT participation but higher-than-state chronic absenteeism and a teacher–student demographic gap. Board members asked for school-level breakouts and further review of reporting methods.
Richard Groan, the district's director of curriculum, articulation and student achievement, presented the North Hunterdon‑Voorhees Regional High School District's New Jersey School Performance Report for the 2023–24 school year at the June 24 board meeting.
Groan said the state reports exclude students who attend Hunterdon County vocational programs and the Hunterdon County Academies, which is why the district's reported enrollment in the state report is 1,924 while the district actually educates about 2,400 students. "The students who are part of the academy and or full time vocational school district students are not included in this because they're part of the Hunterdon County vocational school district report," Groan said, explaining the difference.
The presentation summarized statewide-report figures and district highlights. Graduation rates for the district were shown in the mid-90s (four- and five-year rates in the 95–98% range), above state averages. Participation and course-taking were strong: 85% of seniors took the SAT and about 70% of juniors and seniors were enrolled in one or more Advanced Placement courses, both well above state averages. Visual and performing arts participation was reported at 64.5% districtwide versus 51% statewide.
But board members pressed Groan on measures that concern district leaders. The district's chronic absenteeism rate in 2023–24 was 17.7% (defined in the report as students absent 10% or more of school days), above the statewide rate of 14.9%. Groan highlighted grade-level differences: roughly 10% of ninth-graders in the district were chronically absent vs. 15% statewide, while senior-year chronic absenteeism was 27% in the district compared with 21% statewide.
Groan and board members discussed limitations in the state templates used to generate the public report. He said templates sometimes hide or conflate details and that the district reviews the embargoed state data line-by-line to correct reporting errors before publication. Groan said the district expects to post additional results next month, including NJGPA results, and will follow up with school-by-school breakdowns.
Board members pressed several related issues: the influence of sending (K–8) districts on student preparation, whether including vocational and academy students would materially change district results, and how the district's common assessments correlate with state tests. Groan described internal steps the district takes after results are released: standards reports that identify weak standards, correlation studies comparing local common assessments with NJSLA results, and professional development targeted to standards or schools with weaker performance.
The presentation also highlighted demographic and support metrics the state report includes. The state template showed a mismatch between student and teacher demographics: roughly 82% of students were identified as white while the teacher workforce was about 98% white in the display Groan reviewed. He noted the state commentary that teacher diversity improves outcomes for all students, and board members discussed recruitment and district comparisons to similar districts and to k–12 systems.
Course offerings and co-curricular programs drew specific discussion. The report listed drama and dance curriculum requirements; Groan said drama has been on the books but has not run consistently and dance has never been offered as a full program in the district. He said the drama course last appeared on the course list in 2023–24 (three students from one building signed up; none at the other), and that district staff will survey students and families and improve communications about offerings. Groan and board members also noted that opportunities for students to attend vocational programs (for example, Somerset County vocational programs) remain an option for students seeking specialized arts instruction.
Why it matters: board members and administration said the state report is one tool among many for evaluating instruction and programming, but they emphasized that reporting conventions (which exclude vocational/academy students) and template limitations can change the apparent performance picture. The board requested follow-up materials that will include school-level results and the NJGPA data when it is released.
The district took no formal action on the presentation itself; the session was an informational report and board members asked staff to circulate additional school-level data and to post relevant results and narratives to the district website.
