The district's
board of education, comprised of nine members, sets policy and oversees the fiscal and educational operation of the district through its administration. As a Type II school district, the board's trustees are elected directly by voters to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with three seats up for election each year. The board appoints a superintendent to oversee the district's day-to-day operations and a business administrator to supervise the business functions of the district. Until 2020, Garfield had been one of about a dozen districts statewide (five of which are in Bergen County) which held school elections in April and in which voters also decided on passage of the annual school budget. In June 2020, the city council voted to shift school elections from April to November, with the first election under the new calendar to take place in 2021; this change will also mean that voters no longer vote on the school budget, as long as spending increases are within the state-mandated threshold. In January 2025, the city council voted to shift school elections back to April and was granted an injunction to prevent the school board from moving the date back to November. The city council argued that the return to April would allow the public to vote on adoption of the district's budget, but a 2024 law restricts voting on the budget to situations where a 2% cap is exceeded. ==References==