Greenwich Public School Enrollment Update Tonight

Every August is a waiting game; wait and see who shows up when the school bell rings.

Greenwich Public School students are set to return to class next week with 6th and 9th graders starting on Wednesday, August 31 and the remaining grades returning on Thursday, September 1. Class lists have been mailed to elementary school students while secondary school students will learn of their teachers when they arrive on their first day.

This evening will be the first Board of Education meeting of the 2011-2012 school year as well as the return of Dr. Roger J. Lulow. The Board of Education voted unanimously to appoint Lulow as the Interim Superintendent for the Greenwich Public Schools at a meeting on July 19, 2011. Lulow served as the Superintendent for the Greenwich Public Schools from 1998-2002.

The August Board of Education meeting always includes an update on enrollment and class sections.

During the summer of 2010, a new data system was implemented in the district. The new system combined with the more stringent residency verification recently implemented allows for more accuracy in enrollment projections as well in ensuring only eligible students remain within the system.

The beginning of the last school year saw GHS coming in higher than projection and Elementary Class Sections being below guidelines except at Hamilton Ave School where one of their Kindergarten classes was at 16, one above guidelines and the others were at 15.

In 2010, the District budgeted for 206 sections and ended up deploying 210 sections. The Administration looked to be responsive to parental concerns vocalized at the end of the 2009-2010 school year over class sizes which were near or at the high point of the guidelines.

The Board has had ongoing discussions on whether guidelines should be viewed as “hard-caps” meaning never to be exceeded or “soft-caps” which give building Administration and Havemeyer staff some discretion in class sizes. The School District has often discussed whether other factors such as specific student needs within a class or grade should be taken into consideration when dealing with sections at the top or bottom of the guideline ranges.

Class sections in elementary schools are distributed within specific
guidelines:

- Kindergarten - Grade 1 (16 - 21)
- Grade 2 - Grade 3 (18 - 24)
- Grade 4 - Grade 5 (19 - 26 )

As reported in the just released 2011 Enrollment projection data, the District is 173 students below projection in grades K – 12 (or -2.0%) as of August 16. In prior years, the District has highlighted that figures based upon mid-August projects are subject to revision and, historically, additions in enrollment occur not only up to the first day of school, but even beyond that. Traditionally by the second week of the school year the sand settles and enrollment is more concrete.

It is expected, according to the update on the GPS website, that approximately another 100 students will be added to the system between now and then. This will still leave Greenwich under projection by approximately 75 students. Whether this will result any additional changes in class sections is totally dependent on whether variances are concentrated in certain schools or spread across the district.

The District's budget this year included 213 elementary sections and, based on current enrollment, there are 212 allocated sections. Kindergarten enrollment across the District is at 61 students below projection resulting in 5 of the 11 elementary schools starting with one less Kindergarten section than originally projected.

There are currently two sections which exceed guidelines; at Hamilton Avenue School there are 2 extra students in K and 1 extra student in first grade which places those classes over the guidelines which are specific to Hamilton Avenue School. As part of their magnet program, Hamilton Avenue has reduced class size limits of 15 students per section in Kindergarten and first grade.

An update on the District's enrollment will be presented at this evening's meeting to be held at Town Hall in the Town Hall Meeting Room starting at 7:00 p.m.