In 2025-26 it enrolled 6,865 students across grades PK–12. That is 754 more than in 1998-99 (6,111) — the district has grown. Its biggest cohort is grade 6.
Students enrolled in each grade each fall, stacked to the total — so the top edge is total enrollment. Bands run from the lowest grade (light) to the highest (dark); a band that appears or disappears is a grade the school added or dropped. “Other” is students with no grade level (mostly special education), so the bands always sum to total. Source: NJDOE Fall Enrollment.
In 1998-99, 49% of students were Black. By 2025-26 the largest group was White, at 54%.
Each group’s share of enrollment over time, or its head count — toggle above. New Jersey expanded race and ethnicity reporting from five to seven categories in 2006-07 (dashed line), so “two or more races” appears only after; Asian here includes Pacific Islander. Source: NJDOE Fall Enrollment.
Between 2021-22 and 2025-26 the makeup of this district barely moved.
The index is half the sum of every group’s change in share, on a 0–100 scale (how it works). Compare any two years in the explorer →
In 2025-26, 15.2% of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch.
Share of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals. The lighter line shows Essex County, for comparison. Since 2014, some districts provide free meals to all students regardless of household income, which can lift the eligible share. Source: NJDOE Fall Enrollment.
As of May 7, SOMSD said it had identified 22 positions for elimination. Fourteen were handled through attrition; eight staff members were directly affected by reductions in force (RIFs). That is not the same as 22 layoffs or proof that 22 student services disappeared. The 2026–27 school year has not begun, so this ledger separates adopted or announced changes from effects that could actually be observed later.
These are dated snapshots as staffing decisions changed. Do not add or average them into one timeless total.
Personnel actions and adopted appropriations are real decisions; they are not yet evidence of the school-year experience.
An elementary art teacher and an elementary media specialist were among the people RIFed, but the district said both positions would be filled under tenure rules.
Not established: This supports a personnel change, not a claim that elementary art or media service disappeared.
Source: May 7 district notice reproduced by Village GreenThe final resolution restored $318,000, including $58,000 for contracted transportation and field trips, and lowered the levy by $139,728.
Not established: An appropriation is not proof that every dollar was spent or that a particular trip ran.
Sources: Resolution 4964A · May 4 field-trip explanation at 2:11:34These are future service configurations or estimates. Their actual effect can only be checked after implementation.
The district said the two middle schools would share one media specialist on an alternating schedule.
Not established: Actual library hours, access, and workload have not yet been observed.
Source: May 7 district notice reproduced by Village GreenTwo English teachers and one art teacher were affected; the district said all CHS 2026–27 courses were scheduled to be fully staffed.
Not established: That assurance does not prove there will be no schedule, workload, or classroom effect.
Source: May 7 district notice reproduced by Village GreenGeneral-education pre-K courtesy busing for children living 1.25 to 2 miles from school is ending. IEP transportation is unaffected; the district said K–5 courtesy busing would continue.
Not established: Other route and bell-schedule effects were still being designed and have not been observed.
Sources: March 20 district letter reproduced by Village Green · March 24 K–5 busing statement at 3:18:08On May 4, the district discussed roughly 10 fewer custodial roles, 13–15 fewer bus routes or drivers, two fewer therapists, and roughly 30–35 fewer contracted workers overall.
Not established: The categories may overlap, bids were not final, and the record does not establish the resulting service level.
Source: May 4 budget hearing at 1:15:02The available record does not yet show opening-day class sizes, school schedules, actual library hours, final routes and ride times, staff workloads, or families’ experience of these changes. Those are the next facts to update, not blanks to fill with inference.
In 2025-26, South Orange-Maplewood proposed a $170.2 million General Fund operating budget.
These are proposed NJDOE User-Friendly Budget planning rows—not audited actuals, household tax bills, or all-funds totals.
Growth measures how much students progressed over the year against peers who scored the same the year before — 50 is a typical year. In 2024-25, this district’s median growth percentile was 48 in English and 52 in math — NJ calls this “typical” growth.
English language arts: 70.4% met or exceeded expectations in 2024-25 (state 53%), up from 65.6% in 2021-22.
By grade, year to year
Each panel is one grade — watch its mix of levels shift across 2021–2024.
By grade cohort, lined up across years
Each panel lines up aggregate grade results one grade higher each year. It approximates a class cohort, but does not track individual students; enrollment can change.
Math: 56.8% met or exceeded expectations in 2024-25 (state 42%), up from 47.5% in 2021-22.
By grade, year to year
Each panel is one grade — watch its mix of levels shift across 2021–2024.
By grade cohort, lined up across years
Each panel lines up aggregate grade results one grade higher each year. It approximates a class cohort, but does not track individual students; enrollment can change.
In each panel the flat line is the proficiency boundary: levels 4–5 (met or exceeded) fill the area above it, levels 1–3 below — so a smaller reported share in levels 4–5 makes the area above the line shrink (it isn’t a misleading upward slope). Light = level 1 (did not yet meet expectations), dark = level 5 (exceeded); the % marks the proficient share at the first and last points. The first set of panels follows each grade across the years; the second lines up aggregate grade results one grade higher each year. It approximates a class cohort, not linked individual students. Growth is the median Student Growth Percentile (50 = a typical year), reported only through grade 8. The NJSLA was not given in spring 2020 and was disrupted the next year. Source: NJ School Performance Reports.
In 2024-25, 93.2% of students graduated within four years — up from 90% in 2020-21.
Four-year graduation rate — the share of a class that finishes within four years of entering ninth grade (New Jersey’s state calculation). The lighter line shows New Jersey, for comparison. New Jersey also reports a federal four-year rate (89.4% for 2024-25); the two use slightly different cohort rules. Source: NJ School Performance Reports, 2024-25.
In 2024-25, 8.1% of students were chronically absent — missing at least 10% of school days — down from 12.6% in 2021-22.
Chronic absenteeism — the share of students who missed 10% or more of the days they were enrolled (roughly 18 days across a full school year). The lighter line shows New Jersey, for comparison. Source: NJ School Performance Reports, 2024-25.
The district’s 11 schools on record. Open any for its full profile.
Profile built from New Jersey Department of Education Fall Enrollment data, 1998-99 through 2025-26. How this data works →
