Newark City School District

Newark City School District is a public school district in the city of Newark, Ohio. The district is the largest in Licking County, with nearly 7,000 students.

The district was formed in 1848 after the passage of a voter petition to unify the schools in Newark under one system. The first school board was elected on September 19, 1849. A "Negro school" operated from 1859 until 1888 to provide segregated education to African American children in the Newark district.

At the request of the U.S. government in 1940, the district initiated industrial training programs that were intended to assist in national defense. The shops operated 24 hours a day, six days a week, and after the attack on Pearl Harbor, became directly funded by the government to expand into a second building and thirty-five classes. It has been estimated that the district trained 8,000 people between 1940 and 1945 with skills essential to the national defense industries.

As of 2005^[update], three additional elementary schools and two middle schools are slated to begin construction.

In mid-2005 Newark City Schools began to phase out its former system of schooling. Under the former system, grades K-4th went to elementary school, grades 5th-6th went to intermediate school, 7th-8th went to middle school, and grades 9th-12th went to High School. Under the reformed system of schooling, grades K-5 go to elementary school, 6-8 goes to middle school, and 9-12 goes to high school. Former intermediate schools include Central Intermediate and West Main Intermediate. Central is now a private school and West Main is a vacant facility.

As of September 2006 construction is underway on Carson, Cherry Valley, Hillview, and Legend Elementary Schools as well as Heritage (old Lincoln), and Liberty Middle Schools

The district's Board of Education consists of five citizens elected to staggered four-year terms, with one president, one vice-president, and three members. In addition to the general goal of educating the district's students, the Board has the specific duties of hiring the district's superintendent and treasurer, overseeing the annual budget, and approving contracts with district employees. Board meetings are open to the public and held in the high school library.

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