Greenwich Public Schools Enrollment Update

An update to the enrollment status for Greenwich Public Schools was given to the Board of Education at their first meeting of the school year, held last Thursday evening.

Board of Education Special Projects Manager John Curtin told the Board that the enrollment numbers, as of last Thursday morning, stood at 8697 or 72 below projections; a gain of 101 students from the August 16th update previously released.

The situation is “dynamic” according to Curtin who noted that ten more students were enrolling that very day, but that it won’t be until class starts that the District will know which students have left the District and failed to send notification of such to the school.  “We
will be very close to projected number when school opens," stated Curtin, predicting that “after school starts I expect we will be 25 students under, well within 1% of the projection.”

The District is especially focused on building level Elementary School enrollment as individual class sizes must stay within District guidelines.

As of Thursday, Hamilton Avenue had 2 extra students in both Kindergarten and Grade 1, both of which have 4 sections.  The District was also monitoring enrollment in seven other sections spread throughout the district as they were near, but not above, guidelines. 

Overall, as of last Thursday, the District has 212 Elementary School sections versus a budget of 213.

Pre-K enrollment is also monitored and currently stands at 139 versus a projection of 150.  Given enrollment can increase throughout the year as students who reach age 3 join the program starting this close to the projection is a concern.

The District will make final adjustments regarding increasing or reducing sections by Sept. 15.  When queried by Board member Peter Sherr as to whether this was too late a date to make changes, Curtin explained that this has been the standard procedure for several years and had been reviewed and consented to by the Board last year. This is Procedure E-040.21 – Class Size which is part of Policy E-040 - Effective Learning Environment.

Saying that, Curtin and Deputy Superintendent Ellen Flanagan both explained that they seek to minimize making class changes given the disruptive impact on students and teachers.

Board Vice-Chairman Leslie Moriarity asked whether there was any update regarding Residency Verification. Curtin explained that while he did not have any figures, based upon discussions with Head of
Security Tom Bobkowski who is responsible for the program, he believed that the District was in much better shape than last year.

Curtin also stated that as this was the second year of the expanded program, they had better procedures in place to contact parents who had not registered shortly after the beginning of the school year. He believed that there would be quicker responses this year to the outreach process.

The first day for Greenwich Public School students is slated for an orientation on Wednesday, August 31 for 6th and 9th graders and Thursday, September 1st for remaining grades.