Current Student Population & Educational Adequacy Drive Phase 2 Renovations

We’ve been hearing it for months; enrollments have declined. But this has happened before; enrollments in Salem are cyclical, and they will increase again. 

Case in point: Haigh School was closed in the 1980s for one year. When it reopened as an elementary school in 1987, there were about 1,440 elementary students in the district.  By 1993, five years later, there were 1,770 students, and classroom additions were needed. 

Thirty-year enrollment figures and local real estate trends strongly suggest that our current numbers will climb soon, and local preschools are reporting more infants in their nurseries. Even today, elementary enrollments consist of several hundred more students than the 1,440 that prompted the reopening of Haigh in 1987.   

Enrollments will increase, and as they cycle, elementary renovations will continue to be critical to house students adequately without class sizes becoming undesirably large and small group instruction further expanding in hallways and closets.

Perhaps the most important thing to consider is the fact that Phase 1 and 2 of the elementary renovations are not being driven by increasing enrollments, but rather by the need to accommodate Kindergarten and adequately serve special needs, special education, and small group instructional requirements. 

There are currently about 1,000 special education students in Salem, and right now half of them are being educated in hallways, closets, stairwells, and portable classrooms that will continue to cost us $40,000 per year in lease costs until we add permanent space.

Many state statistics support the need for renovation and planning for enrollment increases.  First, New Hampshire has an increasing number of  younger people not yet married or in the child-rearing stage of their life. 

Second, even though enrollment in many school districts is currently down, these districts are still overcrowded. 

Third, there are about 400 portable classrooms around the state, which indicates there is not enough space in permanent buildings.  In some districts, enrollment continues to increase.  Bedford gained 1,680 students over the past 10 years, and Windham increased by 1,085.  Both districts implemented recent school renovations. 

The conclusions?  Facilities are still overcrowded, and renovated schools attract younger families and build enrollments.  We already know that more families have been choosing Windham over Salem in the past few years.

The message of Salem’s naysayers is always the same: “Vote NO,” and support what is NOT on the ballot.  But voting “NO” on Phase 2 for the sake of it, or because someone suggested closing Haigh School, or because you’re hoping for some kind of different plan, keeps our town from moving forward. 

Realtors in Salem are telling us that young families are beginning to buy the homes that are turning over, and that the market is starting to turn around.  It has also been circulated that Rockingham Park may be developed as residential units if expanded gambling doesn’t get approved. 

If that happens, we will be faced with more overcrowding, bigger class sizes, redistricting, and much larger numbers of kids being educated in hallways and closets if renovations do not occur.   

Fisk was built in 1958, Haigh in 1955, and Soule in 1962. They need to be renovated just to accommodate the needs of the current student population, let alone those of additional students when enrollments bounce back.

We finally have a plan.  Renovations are inevitable and will enable our community to grow.  If we plan for growth and vitality, we will get it.  If we plan for deterioration, we will achieve it. 

Vote YES for School Article 2 - Phase 2 of the facility renovations – it’s a good plan, and it takes advantage of buying low when costs are still low.