Brunswick (Brittonkill) Central School District (BCSD) is a rural fringe[3] central school district located east of the city of Troy whose main campus resides in the town of Brunswick in Rensselaer County, New York, United States.

The district is a member of the Rensselaer-Columbia-Greene Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), known as Questar III.

[1] Previously, Brunswick was serviced by twelve smaller districts, each usually made up of one single-room schoolhouse.

These districts were typically small by necessity, so that students could walk or ride to school in a reasonable time period each day.

[8] At the time, public schools were funded by a combination of population-based state reimbursement, taxes, and tuition paid by parents.

[1][10][11] District #1 is located at the corner of Menemsha and Lansing Lanes[12] and was commonly known as the Paul Springer School.

[14] The school was originally named for President James A. Garfield, who occasionally taught nearby.

The replacement schoolhouse, known as the Lee School, was located at Keyes Lane and Merrill Avenue.

[20] District #7, known as the VanArnum School, was located on Grange Road north of Calhoun Drive.

District #11, called the Sycaway School, was located on the corner of Hoosick Street and Lee Avenue.

In January 1945, the Town of Brunswick Trustees created a committee charged with gathering facts about school district centralization and reporting back to the community.

In late 1945, the committee proposed a plan to the New York State Education Department, which was approved.

By late 1950, town residents began commenting on the inadequacies of the then current infrastructure, equipment, and services within their schools.

In March 1954, the Centralization Committee produced a pamphlet entitled Digest of Facts to inform the community of the project.

In April 1954, a citizens' advisory committee was created, made up of 48 individuals, representing all districts involved in centralization.

[26] The board of education did not adopt "Brittonkill" on the first attempt, voting four to four on January 12, 1956,[25] and the naming issue was tabled indefinitely on February 9, 1956.

The president of the BOE is the de facto chief financial officer of the district and the spokesperson of the board.

[33] The current members are Matt Wade (President), Mike Fortun (Vice President), Robert Fitzgerald, Anthony Grab, Jacklyn Lindemann, Margaret McCarthy, Jack Roddey, Leah Wertz, and Judy Wienman.

[40] The superintendent is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the district in addition to administering policies of the board.

[7] The building serves grades 6 through 12, has a total staffing of 81.3 (on FTE basis),[50] 685 students,[4] and has kept average class sizes below 25 pupils from 2004 to 2007.

The building has a total staffing of 55.92 (on FTE basis),[56] 668 students,[57] and has kept average class sizes at or below 22 pupils from 2004 to 2007.

Data of passing rates (≥ 65%) for students taking Regents exams in the 2006–2007 school year:[24] According to reports, more than 90% of the class of 2007 intended on attending either a two-year or four-year college after graduating high school, almost half of which planned on attending a four-year institution.

The student must also have at least 22 credits overall and pass a prescribed amount of state tests to receive a Regents diploma.

[61] Students have the opportunity to take part in a number of New Visions programs offered by Questar III and Capital Region BOCES.

[61] Dependent upon funding, students also have the opportunity to attend the new four-year Tech Valley High School.

For the school's fiftieth anniversary, the athletic department released a list of the top 50 boys' varsity players of all time.

[70] The campus has one main sports field, complete with bleachers, a reporters' box, concession stand, and newly installed storage building.

The bus garage is located on Tamarac Road, about one half mile from the main campus.

[71] The main campus is serviced by a trickling filter type wastewater treatment plant, which replaced a large septic tank and leach field in the early 2000s (decade).