Framingham School Enrollment Drops, A Potential Budget Problem

FRAMINGHAM, MA — There are 348 fewer students than expected enrolled in Framingham schools this year, a loss that could mean a multi-million dollar drop in state funding.

Superintendent Robert Tremblay presented the new enrollment figures to the School Committee on Nov. 4. According to a student count on Oct. 1, 10 out of the district's 14 grade levels — from prekindergarten to grade 12 — saw declines compared to Oct. 1, 2019.

The biggest declines are in prekindergarten, kindergarten and 1st grade. Tremblay said the problem is not unique to Framingham: there's been a 50 percent kindergarten enrollment drop statewide due to parents holding children home due to coronavirus.

"What we're seeing our district with a lower-than-expected enrollment is not surprising," Tremblay told the committee.

Framingham has also seen many more students formally leave the district for homeschooling: 75 total in 2020 compared to 45 one year ago.

At the kindergarten level, the two most common reasons for not attending Framingham school sin 2021 was 1) transferring to a private school (27 students), and 2) transferring to another public school system (26 students).

Here's a look at the difference in enrollment between 2019 and 2020:

The state funds school districts on a per-pupil basis. In Framingham, the state provides about $12,731 per-pupil. With 348 fewer students, that equals $4.4 million less in state funds.

But Tremblay and Finance Director Lincoln Lynch told the School Committee that districts will be "held harmless" this year from the typical funding calculations — although no one at the state level has formally made that determination, they said.

There's another problem: parents who kept their kids home from school this year due to coronavirus may come back in fall 2021, leading to a sharp enrollment increase.

"We're watching this very, very closely," Tremblay said.