The Pleasantville Public Schools are a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from the City of Pleasantville, in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Pleasantville Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Pleasantville Public Schools, revised January 6, 2015. Accessed April 29, 2025. "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 Pleasantville School District. Composition: The Pleasantville School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Pleasantville." The district is one of 31 former Abbott districts statewide that were established pursuant to the decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court in Abbott v. BurkeWhat 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'." which are now referred to as "SDA Districts" based on the requirement for the state to cover all costs for school building and renovation projects in these districts under the supervision of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority.What We Do, New Jersey Schools Development Authority. Accessed March 1, 2022.SDA Districts, New Jersey Schools Development Authority. Accessed March 1, 2022.
As of the 2021–22 school year, the district, comprising six schools, had an enrollment of 3,743 students and 316.4 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.8:1.District information for Pleasantville Public School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 1, 2022.
Students from Absecon attend the district's high school for ninth through twelfth grades as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Absecon Public School District.Bogdan, Jennifer. "For the first time in decades, Absecon's students are choosing public schools over private schools", The Press of Atlantic City, April 5, 2011. Accessed June 11, 2020. "For the first time in at least 30 years, more than half of the school district's eighth-graders are choosing public high schools over private ones. In past years, as many as 90 percent of the district's students opted for private school. But about 55 percent of the district's 93 eighth-graders have plans to go on to publicly funded schools in September, including Pleasantville High School, Atlantic County Institute of Technology and Charter Tech High School for the Performing Arts." Absecon has sought to end its agreement with Pleasantville and send its students to Absegami High School under a new sending/receiving relationship with the Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District that Absecon argues would give its students a better education at a lower cost, without negatively impacting the demographics in Pleasantville High School. About 10% of Absecon's graduating students have been choosing to attend Pleasantville High School, for which the Absecon district has been paying $18,000 per student each year.Lowe, Claire. "Judge to hear Absecon schools request to leave Pleasantville, attorney says", The Press of Atlantic City, February 25, 2020. Accessed June 11, 2020. "The Absecon School District will appear before a judge in July to argue why it should be allowed to leave its sending and receiving relationship with the Pleasantville School District.... The K-8 district submitted its request to the state Department of Education in August to sever its decades-old agreement with Pleasantville, citing the cost and quality of education there. The petition calls for students from Absecon to instead attend Absegami High School in neighboring Galloway Township."
History In 1948, during de jure educational segregation in the United States, the district had a school for black children. - CITED: p. 85.
In September 2007, The FBI arrested five members of the Pleasantville school board as part of a federal corruption case that included several state lawmakers and other public officials. Included in the sweep were the arrests of Assemblymen Mims Hackett and Alfred E. Steele, and Passaic Mayor Samuel Rivera.Baldwin, Tom. "11 arrested in N.J. corruption probe", USA Today, September 6, 2007. Accessed September 6, 2007. "Among the arrested were state Assemblymen Mims Hackett Jr. and Rev. Alfred Steele aides in their legislative offices acknowledged. Also reportedly arrested was Samuel Rivera, the mayor of Passaic, and Keith Reid, the chief of staff to Newark City Council President Mildred Crump." Indictments were filed against four sitting members of the board of education charging that they had accepted bribes to steer insurance or roofing business from the district. Charged were Jayson Adams (accused of accepting $15,000 in bribes), James McCormick ($3,500), James Pressley ($32,200) and Rafael Velez ($14,000). Former board member Maurice 'Pete' Callaway, a current Pleasantville councilmember, was accused of accepting $13,000 in bribes as part of the scheme and was sentenced to 12 months in federal prison for his role as bagman in the scheme."Pleasantville Man Sentenced to 12 Months in Prison for Being a 'Bagman' for Corrupt Payments to Board of Education Member", Federal Bureau of Investigation press release dated January 28, 2009. Accessed July 23, 2011. "A Pleasantville man was sentenced to 12 months in federal prison today for his conviction on charges of assisting former Pleasantville Board of Education member Maurice 'Pete' Callaway in the receipt of cash bribes, Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph J. Marra, Jr. announced."
The dissolution of some charter schools was a factor in an increase in the student population around 2014, despite a decline in casino jobs.Grote, Dan. "The big shrink: As casinos shed jobs, school enrollment declines", The Press of Atlantic City, July 21, 2014. Accessed April 29, 2025.
The district had been 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.District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 1, 2024.
Awards and recognition For the 2005-06 school year, Washington Avenue Elementary School was one of 22 schools statewide selected as Governor's School of Excellence Winners, an award given to schools that demonstrated significant improvement over the previous two academic years.Snapshots of 2005 Governor's School of Excellence Winners, New Jersey Department of Education, backed up by the Internet Archive as of June 26, 2006. Accessed April 17, 2013.
In March 2007, the commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education appointed a monitor to supervise and address a series of issues raised regarding the district's financial practices and "to ensure that state school aid is spent efficiently and effectively".Commissioner Davy Appoints State Monitor for Pleasantville, New Jersey Department of Education press release, March 29, 2007. Accessed April 29, 2025. "John J. Deserable, the assistant superintendent for business and the board secretary in the Evesham school district, has been appointed as the state monitor for the Pleasantville schools by Education Commissioner Lucille E. Davy."
Schools Schools in the district (with 2021–22 enrollment data from the National Center for Education StatisticsSchool Data for the Pleasantville Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 1, 2022.) are:Schools, Pleasantville Public Schools. Accessed September 7, 2023.Public School Directory 2024–2025, Atlantic County, New Jersey. Accessed April 1, 2025.School Performance Reports for the Pleasantville Public School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 3, 2024.New Jersey School Directory for the Pleasantville Public Schools, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024. Early childhood Decatur Avenue Early Childhood CenterDecatur Avenue Early childhood Center, Pleasantville Public Schools. Accessed September 7, 2023. with N/A students in grade PreK Howard Johnson, principalAdministrative Team, Early Childhood Program. Accessed September 7, 2023. Elementary schools Leeds Avenue SchoolLeeds Avenue School, Pleasantville Public Schools. Accessed August 31, 2025. with 567 students in grades PreK-5 Velecia Bush, principal North Main Street SchoolNorth Main Street School, Pleasantville Public Schools. Accessed August 31, 2025. with 308 students in grades PreK-5 Felicia Hyman-Medley, principalPrincipal's Page, North Main Street School. Accessed August 31, 2025. South Main Street SchoolSouth Main Street School, Pleasantville Public Schools. Accessed August 31 2025. with 478 students in grades PreK-5 Rayna K. Hendricks, principalSchool Administrators, South Main Street School. Accessed August 31, 2025. Washington Avenue SchoolWashington Avenue School, Pleasantville Public Schools. Accessed September 7, 2023. with 407 students in grades K-5 Cynthia Ruiz-Cooper, principalPrincipal's Page, Washington Avenue School. Accessed September 7, 2023. Secondary schools Pleasantville Middle SchoolPleasantville Middle School, Pleasantville Public Schools. Accessed September 7, 2023. with 847 students in grades 6-8 Ramon Santiago Jr, principalAdministration, Pleasantville Middle School. Accessed August 31, 2025. Pleasantville High SchoolPleasantville High School, Pleasantville Public Schools. Accessed September 7, 2023. with 893 students in grades 9-12 Thomas McCannAdministrative Team, Pleasantville High School. Accessed August 31, 2025.
Administration Core members of the district's administration are:Administration. Accessed April 29, 2025.New Jersey School Directory for Atlantic County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed September 29, 2016. Marilyn Martinez, superintendent of schools Daile Dixon-White, business administrator and board secretary
Board of education