The Montague Township School District is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade from Montague Township, in Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Montague Township Board of Education District Bylaw 0110 - Identification, Montague Township School District, adopted October 25, 2023. Accessed January 1, 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 eight in the Montague Township School District. Composition: The Montague Township School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Montague Township."Montague Township School District 2016 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed May 14, 2017. "Montague Township is located in the Delaware Highlands Region of New Jersey. High Point State Park and Stokes State Forest provide the scenery to this rural Sussex County community. Montague Township School District is a Pre-K through grade 8 school in Sussex County. Montague students attend High Point Regional High School for grades 9 through 12. Sussex County Technical School and parent choice school are also options for students."Public School Directory 2023-2024, Sussex County, New Jersey. Accessed December 1, 2024.School Performance Reports for the Montague Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed September 1, 2025.New Jersey School Directory for the Montague Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.
As of the 2023–24 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 309 students and 37.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 8.2:1.District information for Montague Township School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 15, 2024.
Public school students in ninth through twelfth grades attend High Point Regional High School.Montague Township School District 2015 District Narrative, New Jersey School Report Card. Accessed June 7, 2016. "In September 2014, the district began to transition incoming ninth grade students from the Port Jervis City School District in Port Jervis New York into High Point Regional School District in New Jersey. The transition of high school students into High Point Regional School District will be complete by 2017." High Point also serves students from Branchville Borough, Frankford Township, Lafayette Township, Sussex Borough and Wantage Township (where the school is located).High Point Regional High School 2015 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 8, 2016. "High Point Regional High School is a comprehensive high school serving the diversified needs of the three surrounding K through 8 school districts of Lafayette, Frankford, Montague, and Sussex-Wantage."2022-23 School Profile, High Point Regional High School. Accessed January 1, 2025. "Located 63 miles northwest of Manhattan in bucolic Sussex County, NJ, High Point serves students from six municipalities: Branchville, Lafayette, Frankford, Montague, Sussex, and Wantage." As of the 2023–24 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 803 students and 73.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.0:1.School data for High Point Regional High School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 15, 2024. Students may also enroll at Sussex County Technical School, which accepts students on a selective basis,2023-24 School Profile, Sussex County Technical School. Accessed January 1, 2025. 'Sussex County Technical School (SCTS) offers Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs for Sussex County high school students. The academies are public programs of choice for Sussex County residents." or to the middle school charter program in Sparta Township.Enrollment Options for the 2016-17 School Year and Beyond, Montague Township School District, July 28, 2016. Accessed January 4, 2017.
The district had been classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "B", the second 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.
History For more than 80 years until 2013, the Montague district sent its high school-aged students to Port Jervis High School, of the Port Jervis City School District of Port Jervis, New York; the Montague district was the only New Jersey school district to send its students outside of New Jersey to complete certain grade levels. Because the Montague Township students graduated from Port Jervis High, they qualified for in-state tuition rates at universities in two states. The district also sent middle school-aged students to Port Jervis Middle School. It was the only New Jersey school district that sent students to New York State.
In various periods Montague Township considered switching to High Point Regional High School but the distance was further than the to Port Jervis High. James Nani of the Times Herald-Record stated that Deckertown Turnpike, the route between Montague Township and High Point High, may be "treacherous" during inclement weather. Rob Jennings of NJ Advance Media wrote that eventually the district moved to court High Point High because of "a desire by some residents to bring students home".
In 2013, the Montague district decided to begin sending its students to High Point Regional, effective September 2014. By 2017 all grade levels for high school students were to be sent to High Point HS. The Montague district initially negotiated with the Frankford Township School District for the possibility of sending middle schools there. Instead the district expanded to covering middle school with students designated to attend Montague Township School for grades 7-8 instead of Port Jervis Middle effective fall 2016. - On the Montague School District site. Use CTRL-A to see all text. Families of 20 Port Jervis HS students resident in Montague opposed a New Jersey commissioner order saying they could not continue attending that school and got a settlement on June 20, 2016 that allowed them to complete their high school education there. Eric Obernauer of the New Jersey Herald wrote that the move to High Point "was controversial and followed by the successive turnover of the entire Montague board over the next two years".
The Montague district began seeking to annul the relationship with High Point Regional and resume sending students to Port Jervis. In February 2018 all seven members of the Montague board approved a symbolic resolution to not renew its ties with High Point. Obernauer stated that the Montague-High Point relationship was "frosty" and "icy". The Montague district chose to switch back to Port Jervis because Port Jervis offered a lower tuition than High Point; High Point charged $16,368 per student to Montague. All six members of the Montague district voted, in October 2019, to switch back to Port Jervis. The High Point district sought to block this request on the grounds it and its students would be financially impacted. The Montague district stated that the districts signed an agreement in 2018 that would allow Montague to leave at will.
By December 2020 the districts were in a legal dispute. The High Point agreement was scheduled to end in 2024. - Use CTRL-A to see all text. Obernauer stated that while Montague School District switching to another school district in New Jersey was "conceivable", "it is questionable if a future [New Jersey] education commissioner would ever agree to have Montague return to sending students out of state to Port Jervis" and that "Even without a formal agreement in place, getting out of send-receive relationships in New Jersey is notoriously difficult and typically requires that the separation have no adverse impact on either district."
By 2021 the Montague board, now with new members, sought to dismiss lawsuits against High Point. Obernauer stated "dissatisfaction with how the Montague district is being run and legal fees spent trying to resume the longstanding relationship with Port Jervis, coupled with a growing acceptance of the High Point relationship, appear to have changed public sentiment."
Schools Schools in the district (with 2023–24 enrollment data from the National Center for Education StatisticsSchool Data for the Montague Township School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 15, 2024.) are: Elementary schools Montague Elementary School, with 308 students in grades PreK–8
Montague School was previously K–6, but when the send-receive agreement with Port Jervis was phased out, the school became K–8. The district had a planned expansion, approved by 4–2 by the school board and scheduled to be put up for a public vote on September 30, 2014.
Administration Core members of the district's administration are:Administration, Montague Township School District. Accessed December 3, 2025.New Jersey School Directory for Sussex County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024. James Andriac, superintendent / principal Michael Bussow, business administrator / board secretary
Board of education The district's board of education, comprised of seven 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 two or three 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.New Jersey Boards of Education by District Election Types - 2018 School Election, New Jersey Department of Education, updated February 16, 2018. Accessed January 26, 2020.Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the Montague Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2023. Accessed April 20, 2024. "The Montague Township School District is a Type II district located in the County of Sussex, 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 elected to three-year terms. The purpose of the district is to educate students in grades K-8." See "Roster of Officials" on page 13.Board of Education, Montague Township School District. Accessed January 1, 2025.