South Plainfield Schools: Calendar, Board Meetings & Parent Routes
A search for the South Plainfield Board of Education often starts with a simple question—when is the next meeting, when is school closed, or which office should I call? The district has separate routes for Board records, enrollment, transportation, school-level events, public records and family services.
This guide keeps those routes together while making one important local distinction clear: South Plainfield School District is not Plainfield Public Schools. The two New Jersey districts have different schools, calendars, Board schedules and websites.
South Plainfield Board of Education at a glance
South Plainfield School District serves South Plainfield, New Jersey. The district’s main address is 125 Jackson Avenue, South Plainfield, NJ 07080, and the main phone number is 908-754-4620. Dr. Noreen Tansey Lishak is listed as Superintendent of Schools.
Plainfield name check: South Plainfield School District, Plainfield Public Schools and North Plainfield Borough School District are separate school systems. Always check the city and district domain before using a calendar or Board-meeting date.
South Plainfield Board of Education meeting dates
The Board approved a specific 2026 Regular Public Meeting schedule. These meetings are listed for 6:00 p.m. at the South Plainfield High School Media Center, 200 Lake Street.
South Plainfield also holds special meetings when needed. For example, a Special Public Board Meeting was posted for July 29, 2026 by Zoom, so the annual regular schedule is not the only place to check before attending.
| 2026 date | Time | Meeting |
|---|---|---|
| Jan. 21 | 6:00 p.m. | Regular Public Meeting |
| Feb. 18 | 6:00 p.m. | Regular Public Meeting |
| Mar. 18 | 6:00 p.m. | Regular Public Meeting / tentative budget adoption |
| Apr. 15 | 6:00 p.m. | Regular Public Meeting |
| May 6 | 6:00 p.m. | Budget Hearing and Adoption / Regular Public Meeting |
| June 10 | 6:00 p.m. | Regular Public Meeting |
| July 15 | 6:00 p.m. | Regular Public Meeting |
| Aug. 12 | 6:00 p.m. | Regular Public Meeting |
| Sept. 16 | 6:00 p.m. | Regular Public Meeting |
| Oct. 14 | 6:00 p.m. | Next scheduled regular meeting after Oct. 2 |
| Nov. 18 | 6:00 p.m. | Regular Public Meeting |
| Dec. 16 | 6:00 p.m. | Regular Public Meeting |
Meeting location: the approved regular schedule uses the South Plainfield High School Media Center, not the Jackson Avenue administration office.
Check for special notices: the district posted a separate Special Public Board Meeting for July 29, 2026. Always look at current News, Events and Board documents before traveling.
How to verify a South Plainfield Board action
A meeting date, agenda item and approved action are three different things. The district keeps Board agendas and minutes in its document system, so use the record that matches your question.
Confirm the meeting date
Start with the approved annual schedule, then check for a special-meeting notice or date change.
Open the agenda
An agenda tells you what is scheduled for discussion, approval or presentation.
Read the minutes afterward
Use the meeting minutes when you need the later record of motions, votes and Board action.
Check the policy when the rule matters
A discussion or motion at one meeting may not tell you the full current policy. Open the district’s active Board policy source when the rule itself matters.
Public comment detail: the January 2026 organization agenda cites District Policy 0167 and states that each participant statement is limited to three minutes and that a participant may not speak more than once on the same topic.
Privacy: public Board comment is not the right place to disclose a student’s disability, medical information, discipline history, grades or other private education records.
South Plainfield school calendar: key family dates
The Board approved the 2026–27 school calendar in December 2025. The current district calendar document index did not expose that PDF directly during this crawl, so the dates below were cross-checked against a current reproduction of the approved South Plainfield calendar.
Use this table for planning, but reopen the district Calendar page before booking travel, arranging childcare or assuming a weather make-up day will remain unused.
| Calendar item | Date | Local planning note |
|---|---|---|
| Staff In-Service | Sept. 1, 2026 | Schools closed to students. |
| First student day | Sept. 2, 2026 | Early dismissal for students and staff is listed. |
| Labor Day | Sept. 7, 2026 | Schools and offices closed. |
| Labor Day Recess | Sept. 8, 2026 | No regular school. |
| Yom Kippur | Sept. 21, 2026 | Schools and offices closed. |
| Professional Day | Nov. 3, 2026 | Students out; teachers in attendance. |
| NJEA Convention | Nov. 5–6, 2026 | District closure period; verify the current PDF around Nov. 2–6. |
| Grant conferences | Nov. 11–12, 2026 | Early dismissal for Grant School. |
| Pre-K–4 conferences | Nov. 12–13, 2026 | Early dismissal at preschool and elementary level. |
| High School conferences | Nov. 18, 2026 | High School early dismissal. |
| Middle School conferences | Nov. 19–20, 2026 | Middle School early dismissal. |
| Thanksgiving Recess | Nov. 26–27, 2026 | Early dismissal is listed for Nov. 25. |
| Winter Recess | Dec. 24, 2026–Jan. 1, 2027 | Early dismissal is listed for Dec. 23. |
| Presidents’ Day | Feb. 15, 2027 | Schools and offices closed. |
| Spring Recess | Mar. 26–Apr. 2, 2027 | Districtwide spring break. |
| Memorial Day | May 31, 2027 | Schools and offices closed. |
| Middle School Promotion | June 17, 2027 | Early dismissal is also listed. |
| Last student day / Graduation | June 18, 2027 | High School graduation and early dismissal are listed. |
Snow-day rule: late-year optional holidays or return days can change if emergency closing days are used. Check the live district calendar before treating a May or June date as guaranteed.
South Plainfield Board of Education members
Official January 2026 meeting minutes recorded nine Board members present. The district’s current Staff page now identifies Pio Pennisi as Board of Education President.
Officer-title freshness: January and April 2026 minutes show Thomas Cassio presiding, while the district’s current Staff page now labels Pio Pennisi as President. Use the live district listing when a current officer title matters.
South Plainfield schools by grade band
The district’s physical school path is easy to understand once the grade bands are separated: four elementary schools serve K–4, Grant serves grades 5–6, the Middle School serves grades 7–8 and South Plainfield High School serves grades 9–12. Preschool programs also use dedicated annex locations.
Franklin Elementary School
1000 Franklin Avenue, South Plainfield, NJ 07080
908-912-5804
John F. Kennedy Elementary School
2900 Norwood Avenue, South Plainfield, NJ 07080
908-912-5805
John E. Riley Elementary School
100 Morris Avenue, South Plainfield, NJ 07080
908-912-5806
Roosevelt Elementary School
135 Jackson Avenue, South Plainfield, NJ 07080
908-754-4620
Grant School
305 Cromwell Place, South Plainfield, NJ 07080
908-912-5803
South Plainfield Middle School
2201 Plainfield Avenue, South Plainfield, NJ 07080
908-912-5802
South Plainfield High School
200 Lake Street, South Plainfield, NJ 07080
908-912-5801
Call the school first for attendance, teachers, classroom questions, student pickup, school events or building-level schedules. Board members are not the first-line contact for routine student matters.
South Plainfield kindergarten and new-student registration
South Plainfield’s 2026 kindergarten process shows how the district separates online enrollment from the in-person appointment. Families were instructed to begin online, upload the required documents and then schedule an appointment.
Begin enrollment online
Start from the Enrollment route on the district website and complete the online portion before making the registration appointment.
Upload the required documents
Follow the current enrollment checklist shown by the district rather than using an old registration packet from a previous school year.
Check kindergarten age eligibility
For September 2026 kindergarten, a child must be five years old on or before October 1, 2026.
Schedule the appointment
The 2026 kindergarten registration notice directed families to Kathy Hajduk at 908-754-4620 ext. 8202 after completing the online enrollment and uploads.
Go to the assigned registration location
For 2026–27 kindergarten enrollment, appointments were held at South Plainfield Middle School, 2201 Plainfield Avenue, using the Lake Street entrance.
Already in district preschool? the 2026 notice says children attending district preschool who turn five on or before October 1, 2026 automatically transition to kindergarten and are assigned to the appropriate elementary school based on home address.
Do not upload identity or residency documents to third-party sites. Use only the registration links reached from spboe.org.
Open South Plainfield School District and choose Enrollment →
Regular busing, subscription busing and delayed openings
South Plainfield’s 2026–27 transportation information includes a distinctive subscription busing option for some students who do not otherwise receive regular transportation but live beyond specified mileage thresholds.
Pre-K–4 eligibility for subscription seats
The 2026 notice says subscription busing is offered to elementary students who live more than one mile from school, subject to available seats on existing routes.
Grades 5–12
The 2026 notice uses a distance of more than 1.25 miles for students in grades 5–12 seeking subscription seats.
Annual subscription fee
The 2026–27 fee is listed as $650, paid in full online through PaySchools Central and described as non-refundable.
Limited capacity: subscription seats are first-come, first-served. The district says it cannot add routes or stops when existing-route seats fill. Franklin and Roosevelt were not offered subscription busing in the August 2026 notice.
Regular transportation is different: students who qualify under district transportation policy and students with transportation written into an IEP are not treated as subscription-busing applicants.
What a 90-minute delayed opening looks like
A January 2026 district notice gives a useful picture of how South Plainfield handles a 90-minute delayed opening. The schedule is school-level specific, and regularly bused students are picked up 90 minutes after their normal time.
| School level | Delayed start | Dismissal |
|---|---|---|
| High School | 9:15 a.m. | 2:25 p.m. |
| Middle School | 9:35 a.m. | 2:20 p.m. |
| Grant School | 9:00 a.m. | 2:10 p.m. |
| Elementary Schools | 10:05 a.m. | 3:00 p.m. |
| Full-Day Preschool | 10:30 a.m. | 3:25 p.m. |
Use the live notice on an actual weather day. The schedule above comes from a January 2026 delayed-opening notice and should not replace a newer emergency announcement.
South Plainfield OPRA requests vs. student records
The district maintains an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) page for public-record requests. That route is different from asking for a student’s transcript, health file, attendance record or other private education record.
Board records
Agendas and meeting minutes should normally be checked in the Board document archive first.
OPRA
Use the district’s OPRA page when you need to make a formal public-record request under New Jersey’s public-record process.
Student records
Use the student’s school or authorized district student-record process. Private education records are not ordinary public Board records.
South Plainfield Board of Education employment
The district homepage provides a direct Employment route. Current 2026 postings show the district actively recruiting instructional staff, so applicants should use the district-linked application system rather than an old cached vacancy.
Current openings
Start at spboe.org and choose Employment to reach the district’s current application and vacancy information.
Before uploading documents
Confirm the vacancy is active and that the application link is connected to South Plainfield School District. Third-party job boards can preserve closed listings.
South Plainfield Board of Education office and meeting map
The district’s main listing is 125 Jackson Avenue, South Plainfield, NJ 07080. This is separate from the normal regular Board meeting location at South Plainfield High School.
Don’t drive to the wrong building: the district office, regular Board meeting venue and kindergarten registration venue are three different destinations.
Common South Plainfield school search mistakes
“I found Plainfield Public Schools.”
Check the domain. This guide is for South Plainfield at spboe.org, not Plainfield Public Schools.
“I went to 125 Jackson for the Board meeting.”
The approved 2026 regular meeting schedule uses the High School Media Center at 200 Lake Street.
“The regular schedule doesn’t show the meeting I saw online.”
Special meetings can be posted separately. The July 29, 2026 Zoom meeting is an example.
“I submitted kindergarten information online.”
The 2026 process also required an appointment after online enrollment and document upload.
“My child lives near a bus route.”
That alone does not guarantee a seat. Subscription busing has mileage requirements, existing-route limitations and available-seat rules.
“I need a transcript, so I used OPRA.”
Student records and public records are different. Start with the student’s school for private education records.
South Plainfield School District official links
South Plainfield Board of Education FAQs
What is the South Plainfield Board of Education phone number?
The South Plainfield School District lists its main phone number as 908-754-4620.
Where is the South Plainfield Board of Education office?
The district lists 125 Jackson Avenue, South Plainfield, NJ 07080.
When is the next South Plainfield Board meeting?
As of October 2, 2026, the official regular schedule lists October 14, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. in the South Plainfield High School Media Center. Check for a later special notice before attending.
Where are regular South Plainfield Board meetings held?
The approved 2026 schedule lists the South Plainfield High School Media Center at 200 Lake Street.
Who is the South Plainfield Superintendent?
Current district materials list Dr. Noreen Tansey Lishak as Superintendent of Schools.
Who is the current Board President?
The district’s current Staff page identifies Pio Pennisi as Board of Education President. Earlier 2026 meeting minutes show Thomas Cassio presiding, so use the live directory when an officer title matters.
How many members are on the South Plainfield Board of Education?
Official 2026 Board meeting records show a nine-member Board.
How long may I speak during public comment?
The January 2026 organization agenda cites District Policy 0167 and states that each participant statement is limited to three minutes, with no participant speaking more than once on the same topic.
When did South Plainfield students start school in 2026?
The approved 2026–27 calendar reproduction lists September 2, 2026 as the first student day, with an early dismissal.
When is South Plainfield Spring Break in 2027?
The current 2026–27 calendar reproduction lists Spring Recess from March 26 through April 2, 2027.
When is the last day of school in 2027?
The current calendar reproduction lists June 18, 2027 as the last student day and High School graduation date.
How old must a child be for kindergarten in September 2026?
The district’s 2026 kindergarten notice says children must be five years old on or before October 1, 2026.
How much is South Plainfield subscription busing for 2026–27?
The district’s August 2026 notice lists an annual non-refundable subscription-busing fee of $650, payable online through PaySchools Central when a qualifying seat is available.
Is South Plainfield Board of Education the same as Plainfield Board of Education?
No. South Plainfield School District and Plainfield Public Schools are separate New Jersey districts with different websites, Board meetings, schools and calendars.
Is BoardofEducations.org the official South Plainfield School District website?
No. BoardofEducations.org is an independent information guide. Use spboe.org for official calendars, meeting records, registration, transportation, policies and district decisions.
Use the South Plainfield page that matches the task
Board or public-governance issue
Use Board agendas, minutes, the approved meeting schedule and OPRA resources for governance, policy and public-record questions.
Student or family issue
Use the student’s school, Enrollment, Transportation or another district department for student-specific matters.
Freshness check: calendars, special Board meetings, transportation seats, school contacts and enrollment procedures can change. Reopen the official South Plainfield School District page before a date-sensitive visit, payment or submission.
Independent information guide: BoardofEducations.org is not South Plainfield School District, the South Plainfield Board of Education, the Borough of South Plainfield or the New Jersey Department of Education. Current official district information takes priority.