Danbury sees decline in kindergarten enrollment
School population has declined slightly due to the pandemic, but that decrease is not expected to last
DANBURY — The school district’s enrollment is down slightly from last year, a decrease that officials are attributing to the coronavirus pandemic.
This is a sharp contrast from the previous fall, when 350 more students than expected entered the schools and enrollment increased by 5.6 percent. An increase of 1 to 2 percent is typical.
“The board has been concerned about the influx,” Superintendent Sal Pascarella said at Wednesday’s school board meeting. “We have not seen that.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, enrollment was at 11,907 students, down 20 children compared to last October, said Gina Jasmine, director of technology and student data systems. Kindergarten enrollment is down, but the middle school saw an increase, she said.
“Twenty students is statistically
insignificant,” Mayor Mark Boughton said. “But it’s good that it’s down and that it’s not up by 200 students.”
Demographers estimated last year the student population could grow by as much as 7.1 percent over
10 years. Immigration has been a factor in school enrollment growth, but has been restricted nationally during the pandemic.
“We’re just watching on the national level when borders start to open and more travel starts to happen,” Jasmine said. “We anticipate we’ll see a little bit of a surge there, as well.”
Enrollment projections are not an “exact science,” and this year’s numbers were affected by the pandemic, Boughton said.
“Overall, COVID has had an impact on people moving around the country and people moving around in the state,” he said.
Meanwhile, other districts have noted rising enrollment as New Yorkers move to Connecticut.
Kindergarten enrollment is far lower than average. The district typically sees
920 kindergarteners, but has 829 this year, Jasmine said.
“That’s a significant drop,” she said. “But overall, we believe that people are maybe holding their kids back this year and going to send their kids next year to kindergarten.”
There are 100 more middle-schoolers than last year at this time, however, she said.
Magnet school drop
Meanwhile, 19 fewer students from other districts are going to AIS Magnet School, which accepts students from Danbury and other towns.
There are 114 students from other districts this year compared to 133 students last year.
“We are the only school in the area that is on virtual learning, distance learning,” Assistant Superintendent Kevin Walston said. “A lot of those families have chosen to keep their kids in their home district and have chosen not to send them to AIS this year.”
But that’s cause for financial concern.
Courtney LeBorious, director of finance and operations, estimated a loss of $ 86,000 in revenue because the state reimburses some of the cost per student.
The superintendent wrote to legislators asking for state funding to remain the same and is asking partner districts to keep their tuition commitments, even for students no longer attending.
“I was concerned it (the potential revenue loss) would be much greater,” Pascarella said.
Each year Danbury families vie in a lottery system to get into the popular magnet school, which must accept roughly 70 percent of Danbury students and 30 percent of children from other towns.
“We can’t just admit our students,” Pascarella said. “We still have to stay with our split.”
These enrollment numbers are considered rough until the official count on Oct. 1 for the state, he said.
Construction projects continue
The slowing enrollment growth does not mean the city is pumping the breaks on its school construction projects, which were initiated because of overcrowding in the buildings.
“We know we still have work to do,” Boughton said. “We know we have to prepare for an influx of students in the next three to four years.”
Officials are picking between seven architects to design seven elementary classrooms in a districtowned building on Osborne Street. This will serve as a 100-student annex to Ellsworth Avenue Elementary School, where
522 students were enrolled last year in a building meant for 391 children.
The annex is on track to open next academic year, LeBorious said.
The Connecticut legislature may take up a bill next week that would allow Danbury to receive a state grant toward a proposed
$45 million career academy for middle and high school students, Boughton said.
New preschool classrooms on Granville Avenue
are expected be completed around the first week in October, said said Kelly Truchsess, director of pupil personnel services. The district is leasing space in a church for the classrooms.
She said there were some delays on items such as windows, which had to be ordered three times because a factory shut down due to the pandemic. But all that remains are the “fin
ishing touches.”
“I’m really excited about the opportunity to have officially an early childhood center,” Truchsess said. “It will be wonderful for our kids.”