Enrollment in Long Island Schools Drop While Teachers Are Hired

Janet Joyce Tuesday, March 12, 2013

In a day and age when a nationwide sequester hits that has many wondering about public schools, there is news that not only are schools hiring because of an influx of federal aid, but that their enrollments are declining.

It is true that Long Island schools are receiving smaller amounts of financial aid than the rest of New York, the aid is still available, teachers are being hired, and there are fewer children to be taught.

The number of students in grade six and under has been dropping at most Long Island school districts in recent years. Since the 2005-2006 school year, there has been a steady decline of students that averages out to 8% across all districts. But, yet, there is an increase in new teacher hirings - while other programs are being cutback - and taxes to help pay for this aid.

Some of the more noticable areas are in smaller populated areas where the schools are going to miss it when a few children are missing. However, the numbers are larger in areas where schools are bigger. For example, in East Islip there are almost 200 less children in the schools which amounts to a 15% decrease. In Bellmore there are 53 fewer children which is a 7% decrease. The numbers in between average to an overall 8% decrease across all of Long Island.

The drop in the number of students in kindergarten through sixth grade is primarily caused by lower birthrates, a stagnant housing market, escalating property taxes, a tight job market and an aging population, experts said.

"This is more dramatic than what has been seen in other times," said Joan Townley, a demographer with Western Suffolk BOCES, which has researched enrollment data since 1985 and forecasts trends each year. What makes it so, she said, are the repeated years of declines -- eight years in a row.

The BOCES demographers predict an additional 3.7 percent decline in the region through the 2015-16 school year, with the greatest losses in kindergarten through grade five. An updated report will be released this month.

The trend of decline is expected eventually to plateau, Townley said. But lower birthrates mean the number of school-age children is unlikely to rise as much as it did when enrollment peaked in 2004-05, with 471,380 students Islandwide in grades K-12.

The most recent Long Island figures show almost 25,000 fewer students since then, with 446,407 enrolled in K-12 in 2012-13, according to Western Suffolk BOCES.

janetj@longislandyellowpages.com

Appears In: Education

 

 

• Business News
• Education
• Entertainment
• Jobs & Careers
• Local Events
• Local Steals, Deals & More
• Press Releases
• Restaurants & Food
• Sports & Recreation

Columnists John M.   Show all Columnists