[5] During the 2006–07 academic year, the New Bedford school district (then under the direction of Superintendent Michael Longo) was one of several in Massachusetts labeled as "underperforming" under the state's MCAS guidelines.
The most recent, Keith Middle School, required a cleanup of the polluted soil on the site.
[7][8] The district administrative departments are headquartered the Paul Rodrigues Administration Bldg., housed in the former New Bedford High School high building on County Street, is made up of twenty-five schools.
In 2019 an advocacy group for the Maya people complained to the courts that the school district was not providing adequate Kʼicheʼ language services.
[10] The Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 requires school districts to provide services to speakers of languages other than English.