As of the 2022–23 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 198 students and 24.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 8.3:1.[1]
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]
The original school facility, Seaside Heights Elementary School, was built in 1926 and later demolished after the opening of a larger school building on the bay front. The current school was built in the late 1960s, and is dedicated to Hugh J. Boyd Jr., its longtime superintendent of schools who died in 1983.[18] The district's Early Childhood Center addition was dedicated in 2007 in the name of longtime Board of Education Member Harry M. Smith III.[19]
From 2003 to 2012, the Toms River Regional Schools provided administrative, maintenance, food and other services to the Seaside Heights Board of Education.[20] The Seaside Heights district had been overseen by Toms River central administration until April 2012 when the board elected to align with Central Regional superintendent Triantafillos Parlapanides.[21]
In December 2023, the district considered a vote on the possibility of closing the school, ending its sending relation with the Central Regional School District and merge with the Toms River Regional Schools.[22] Voters were to decide on a merger in a referendum to be held on April 16, 2024; if approved, Hugh J. Boyd Elementary School could remain open for as long as five years while the merger takes place.[23] The voters ultimately chose not to merge.[24]
School
Hugh J. Boyd Jr. Elementary School served 233 students as of the 2020–21 school year.[25] The school was built in 1967, and is dedicated to Hugh J. Boyd Jr., its late, longtime superintendent of schools. Its addition built in 2005 is dedicated in the name of longtime Board of Education member Harry M. Smith III.
Chris Raichle, principal
Administration
Core members of the district's administration are:[26][27]
Douglas Corbett, superintendent of schools
Kevin O'Shea, business administrator and board secretary
Board of education
The district's board of education, composed of five 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 either one or two seats up for election each year held (since 2012) as part of the November general election. 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.[26][28][29]
^Seaside Heights Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Seaside Heights School District. Accessed March 17, 2022. "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 six in the Seaside Heights School District. Composition: The Seaside Heights School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Seaside Heights."
^Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the Central Regional School District, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2020. Accessed March 17, 2022. "The School District is a Type II district located in the County of Ocean, State of New Jersey. As a Type II district, the School District functions independently through a Board of Education. The Board is comprised of nine members appointed to three-year terms. These terms are staggered so that three members’ terms expire each year. The School District provides a full range of educational services appropriate to junior and senior high schools for students of the Boroughs of Island Heights, Ocean Gate, Seaside Heights, Seaside Park and the Township of Berkeley, Ocean County, New Jersey."
^Central Regional Board of Education District Policy 0141 - Board Member Number and Term, Central Regional School District. Accessed March 17, 2022. "The Board of Education shall consist of nine members. The constituent districts and the members to which they are entitled are: Berkeley - five members, Island Heights - one member, Ocean Gate - one member, Seaside Heights - one member, and Seaside Park - one member. The term of a Board member shall be three years."
^Board Members, Central Regional School District. Accessed March 17, 2022.
^"Hugh J. Boyd Jr., 55; lifeguard, school head", The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 26, 1983. Accessed March 17, 2022, via Newspapers.com. Hugh J. Boyd Jr., 55, who spent his career commuting from the classroom to the beach to the football field, died Thursday at the Kimball Medical Center in Lakewood, N.J.... John coached football at Atlantic City High School; Joseph was athletic director at Central Regional High School in Berkeley Township, and Hugh Boyd was principal of the Seaside Heights Elementary School, which was renamed for him in 1977."
^Michels, Chelsea. "Wing named to honor school board member", Asbury Park Press, May 30, 2007. Accessed March 17, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "The Seaside Heights Board of Education and Toms River Regional Schools will celebrate the dedication of the Harry M Smith in Early Childhood Center Memorial Wing at Hugh J. Boyd Jr. Elementary School at 2 p.m. Friday."
^Adelizzi, Joe. "Board OKs school plan in Seaside Toms River district will run school, improve it", Asbury Park Press, September 18, 2003. Accessed August 10, 2014. "The Toms River Regional school system will begin running daily operations at Hugh J. Boyd Elementary School after the borough Board of Education voted 4 to 1 in favor of the arrangement, recommended by the Ocean County superintendent of schools. "
^Jennings, Rob. "Jersey Shore town with just 1 school considers merger with regional district", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, December 6, 2023. Accessed April 7, 2024. "The Seaside Heights school board is scheduled to vote Friday on a resolution in support of merging with the Toms River Regional School District, a move that would also switch its middle and high school students to a different district, according to a meeting notice.... Under the plan, the Hugh J. Boyd, Jr. Elementary School, the lone school in the Seaside Heights district, would close. Students would attend East Dover Elementary School through fifth grade, Toms River Intermediate East School from grades 6-8, and Toms River East High School, the website reported. Currently, students from Seaside Heights attend grades 7-12 in the Central Regional School District."
^Wall, Karen. "Toms River-Seaside Heights School Merger Referendum Approved By State", Toms River, NJ, Patch, March 8, 2024. Accessed April 7, 2024. "A request by the Toms River Regional and Seaside Heights school boards to hold a referendum on a proposed merger of the districts has been approved by the New Jersey Department of Education. In a letter released to the districts Thursday, Kevin Dehmer, the acting commissionoer of education, said he was approving the request for a referendum to be held on April 16. The proposal also would allow Seaside Heights to withdraw from the Central Regional School District."
^Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the Seaside Heights School District, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2023. Accessed March 7, 2024. "The School District is a Type II district located in the County of Ocean, State of New Jersey. As a Type II district, the School District functions independently through a Board of Education (the Board). The Board is comprised of five members appointed to three-year terms. The operations of the District include one elementary school located in Seaside Heights."
