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Top Stories 2012: Kat-Lewisboro School Enrollment Dropping

SOUTH SALEM, N.Y. – The Lewisboro Daily Voice is taking a look back at the town’s top 10 stories of 2012.

Meadow Pond Elementary and other elementary schools in the Katonah-Lewisboro district are seeing a drop in enrollment.

Meadow Pond Elementary and other elementary schools in the Katonah-Lewisboro district are seeing a drop in enrollment.

Photo Credit: Bob Dumas

Enrollment in the Katonah-Lewisboro School District is dropping, particularly throughout the district’s four elementary schools.

Assistant Superintendent Alice Cronin gave a report to the Board of Education in July that showed student numbers are decreasing, particularly new students entering the district. 

“The numbers are trending down and it’s starting to become significant,” Superintendent Paul Kreutzer told the board. “We are seeing a slight acceleration [in declining enrollment] this year.”

Cronin reported that Katonah Elementary School showed the greatest drop. Enrollment for the school in 2011 was 437. Today, it stands at 408.

A study commissioned by the district predicted that the district will have a student body in 2016-17 that is 25 percent smaller than it was in 2006-07. 

The prediction was made by Dr. Richard S. Grip of Statistical Forecasting.

School officials said the study was intended to provide a likely trajectory of enrollment over the next several years to help guide the Board of Education in its decision-making. Issues such as building utilization, organization of grade levels, repurposing of schools and financial forecasting are all contingent on enrollment. 

“We were already aware that our enrollment was declining, and this study helped us to understand why it’s happening,” said Board of Education President Mark Lipton. “The findings reveal that we can expect to see an even more dramatic drop in enrollment in the next four years, a critical point for us to consider as we plan and prepare for the future of our district.”

 

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