New Canaan Public Schools Enrollment Is Dropping, District Says

NEW CANAAN, CT — Fewer births to residents in recent years, and fewer new families moving into town, are being attributed for two of the reasons why New Canaan's public school enrollment is dropping, district officials announced this month.

"For a decade, the District had been increasing slightly in enrollment by an average of about 11 students each year," according to Gary Kass, the district's Director of Human Resources. Kass presented the information during a recent Board of Education meeting. "Currently, that trend appears to have flattened, ushering in a trend of more enrollment stability with some possible fluctuation and reduction in enrollment. The two factors which currently have the greatest effect are a decreased number of births to New Canaan residents and fewer move-ins, due to a decrease in home sales, according to the demographer [Don Kennedy, Ed.D., of the New England School Development Council]."

From the district:

• The total K-12 enrollment for 2018-2019 is 4,113 students, 69 students less than last year (4,182). The enrollment projection for 2019-2020 is 4,064 students in the district, a decrease of 49 students.
• At the Elementary School level, total enrollment for 2018-2019 is 1,494 students, 38 students less than last year (1,532).
• Saxe Middle School’s total enrollment for 2018-2019 is 1,334 students, 3 students more than last year (1,331).
• At New Canaan High School, the total enrollment for 2018-2019 is 1,285 students, 34 students less than last year (1,319).
• Special Education has 460 students with a prevalence rate of 11.2 percent which is up from 10.8 percent. There are 11 students who are placed out of district.
• At the Elementary schools and Saxe Middle School, 98 percent of classes are within class size guidelines and New Canaan High School has 94 percent of classes within class size guidelines.

The data and analysis is as of Oct. 1, the date the state designates as the district’s official enrollment report period. During the period the district has used demographers, projections have typically been within a 1-2 percent difference from actual, sometimes as little as a 0.1 percent difference, officials added.

"This information is used both to examine enrollment and staffing for the current year (2018-19) and to generate projections that will inform planning for next year (2019-20) and future years," officials stated.

Photo credit: New Canaan Public Schools

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