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SCHOOLS: Ridgefield enrollments dip for first
time in 17 years
Sep 7, 2006
For the first time in 17 years, there are fewer students in
Ridgefield�s Public School this fall than there were last
fall.
The decline was anticipated, but seems to be coming a
little faster than expected.
Enrollment in kindergarten through
12th grade classes was counted at 5,492 students last Friday, which
is 48 fewer than last�s year�s official fall head count of 5,540, on
Oct. 1 2005. Last winter for budgeting purposes the school system
had projected that enrollment would decline by only 16 students, to
5,524.
So this fall�s enrollment is 32 students lower than what
had been expected � the official numbers collected on Oct. 1 may
differ a little.
Average class sizes in the elementary schools �
which school officials worked to reduce � ranged from 14.3
students in Scotland School�s kindergarten, to 24.7 students in the
Veterans Park and Farmingville fifth grades.
�They�re looking
really nice,� School Personnel director Karen Dewing said of class
sizes.
The teaching staff was budgeted at what adds up to about
423 full-time positions. Not all of the work is full time, however,
and Ms. Dewing said she has 451 people working as teachers, with 45
of them newly hired.
Past
peak
Last year�s 5,540 students appears to have been
the peak � as expected � of a student population that had been
increasing steadily since 1989, when it had bottomed out at 3,293.
That bottom ended a 15-year period of decline, from a high of 6,002
students in 1974.
But while the number of students had been
increasing steadily for more than a decade and a half, the last
three years of rate of growth had been at a slower rate than
projected. The 2005-06 peak of 5,540 was 34 students fewer than
projected. The total of 5,491 in 2004-05 was 79 fewer than expected,
and enrollment of 5,427 in 2003-04 was 38 below projection. The year
before that, in 2002-03, the total of 5,324 students was 123 more
than expected.
The school system�s projections anticipate that
future enrollments will continue a slow decline that started with
the drop from 5,540 in 2005-06 to 5,492 this year.
The
projections � which will be revised in light of this year�s counts �
anticipate enrollment dropping to 5,479 next year, 5,431 in 2008-09,
5,332 in 2009-10, and 5,246 in the 2010-11 school year.
Preschool, out of town
In
addition to the traditional K-12 population counted in the school
buildings, 75 students are in a variety of special education
programs outside the usual parameters for enrollment counts. These
include 26 school-age students: 17 in day programs at out-of-town
schools, eight in residential schools, and one student taking
instruction at home.
That 75 also includes 49 three- and
four-year-olds below traditional school age, who are in the special
education preschool. Of these, 28 are special needs students who
must be given preschool services under state law, and 21 of them
�typicals� invited in at a modest tuition to assure a well balanced
�integrated� learning environment called for under special education
practices and law.
With the students in the special programs, and
all the kids in the buildings, the �grand total� of Ridgefield
Public School students is 5,567, said Ms. Dewing.
More than 200
students who receive special education services as part of the
regular education program in the school buildings are counted in the
main enrollment numbers.
Class sizes
The class
sizes that pleased Ms. Dewing reflect a priority of the school
administration and board. Last winter they had designed the budget
to reduce class size maximums or �break points� throughout the
system, with a particular emphasis on the elementary schools.
The
maximum class sizes in kindergarten and first grade were at 23 last
year, and the budget reduced them to 22 for this year.
This fall
the schools� average class sizes in kindergarten and first grade
range for the 14.3 in the Scotland kindergarten to 19.7 in the
Barlow Mountain kindergarten.
For second grade, the maximums were
27 last year, and were cut to 25 this year, Ms. Dewing
said.
Average second grade class sizes range from 17.5 at
Farmingville to 23.3 at Scotland.
In grades three to five, class
maximums were 28 last year and were reduced to 27 for this
year.
The average class sizes in grades three through five at the
different schools range from a low of 18.0 in Veterans Park�s fourth
grade to a high of 24.7 in Veterans Park�s fifth grade.
Different levels
The
school system�s apparent change from a period of steady growth to
one of relative stability or mild decline can be seen by looking at
where there still is growth � and where there isn�t.
�It�s
matching our trend, where we�re down at the elementary and middle
and up at the high school,� said Mr. Dewing.
In the
elementary schools, kindergarten through fifth grade enrollment was
2,464 last fall and was counted at 2,422 on Friday. The K-5
enrollment projected for this fall had been 2,414, so the number of
elementary school students went down by 42 when it had been expected
fall by 50.
At the two middle schools, the enrollment was 1,330,
which is 43 fewer than last Oct. 1. The projection had been for
1,342, or 31 fewer.
The high school is the only level where the
number of students increased over last year, with a larger freshman
class replacing the departing seniors. There were 1,740 students
counted there on Friday, 37 more than last October�s official
enrollment of 1,703. The projection had been for the school to grow
to 1,768.
School by school
Among the
elementary schools, Ridgebury is still the largest and Veterans Park
the smallest. Branchville had the most growth this year, Ms. Dewing
said.
The school by school enrollment figures are:
Barlow
Mountain 403
Branchville
443
Farmingville
382
Ridgebury 462
Scotland
385
Veterans Park 347
East
Ridge 740
Scotts Ridge
590
High School 1,740
Last Friday,
Sept. 1, was the fifth day of classes throughout the school system,
except for the high school where only ninth graders came in on the
opening day. Because enrollment figures fluctuate considerably at
the start of the year, the fifth day of classes is a traditional
marking point used to monitor start-of-the-year enrollment. In
recent years, however, the state has made Oct. 1 counts the official
enrollment figures it collects from all Connecticut districts.
� Copyright by Hersam Acorn
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