Lower Merion Enrollment May Top 8,000

Enrollment in the Lower Merion School District is poised to be the highest in nearly 40 years, the district’s acting superintendent said last week.

“Opening day enrollment may surpass 8,000 students for the first time since the 1975-76 school year,” Dr. Wagner Marseille wrote in a letter sent to Lower Merion families.

The district’s projections show that enrollment will continue to climb through the 2021-2022 school year, Marseille wrote.

Marseille said that one cause of the increased enrollment may be the trend of subdividing large lots.

“There may also be impacts from new multi-family rental units set to become available in Lower Merion in the coming months,” Marseille said.

The increasing enrollment numbers further highlight the district’s bus parking needs. “Bus parking is one of our most pressing operational needs,” Marseille wrote.

A commercial property on Bala Avenue has been identified by the district as a possible spot to park the buses, but that idea has raised significant concerns among Bala Cynwyd community members.

Marseille said that the district continues to work to find a solution, nothing that representatives from the Board of School Directors, Township Commissioners and Narberth Borough Council met at the beginning of the month.

See the full letter from Dr. Marseille here.