Toms River High School East

Toms River High School East is a comprehensive four-year public high school, the third high school built in Toms River in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as part of the Toms River Regional Schools. As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,552 students and 103.1 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 15.1:1. There were 274 students (17.7% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 78 (5.0% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch. The school won several awards for its heating system, which utilizes heat generating lighting fixtures. Its school colors are black, gray and Columbia blue (blue was not an original color when HSE started). The school mascot is the Raider. The school day lasts six hours and 20 minutes. The Toms River high school day ends at 1:35 PM, one of the earliest daily closing time of any high schools in New Jersey. History By 1974, the district was facing split sessions for students, as the district's first and second high schools, Toms River High School South and Toms River High School North, had a total of 4,600 students, nearly 50% above capacity. To address the overcrowding, a March 1975 bond referendum was proposed to raise $15 million—the largest ever in county history—for construction of a third high school, which was rejected by a margin of nearly 1,000 votes. Construction was finally approved in a May 1977 referendum authorizing a $10.9 million bond issue to construct the school.