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Date: 5/30/2023
EASTHAMPTON — At its May 23 meeting, the School Committee reviewed the enrollment projection study from New England School Development Council which indicated that enrollment would likely decline slightly over the next 10 years without further construction of new properties in the city.
Karen LeDuc, a senior associate with NESDEC, presented the slideshow to the committee detailing the different areas that the study looked at, how those aspects affected their projections, and what NESDEC would expect to happen in Easthampton schools over the next 10 years.
The data studied included Easthampton’s current birth rates, real estate trends, and building projects already approved and being built, as well as those at earlier stages of development.
One of the data pieces that indicate declining enrollment is the average age of Easthampton residents which was estimated to be 46.5 years old in 2020. An aging population simply means fewer school-age children.
Real estate trends also support declining enrollment as there is limited inventory in the city for young families. Higher interest rates are also making it more of a challenge for those families to afford to buy a home, although Easthampton is still considered to be one of the more affordable places to live.
Right now, there are a small number of approved building projects currently under construction which would only have a small effect on the number of potential students enrolling in the district.
Potential other projects in the pipeline, such as the Sierra Vista project and the reuse of the city’s former elementary schools, could stabilize the enrollment over the next 10 years. However, LeDuc note that this is a potential and not probable enrollment increase because projects can, and often do, significantly change from their initial plans to their completion.
Overall, Easthampton is “a desirable place to live,” LeDuc said, noting that these trends are similar to ones seen nationwide as the population and birth rates have decreased, especially over the last few years.
Superintendent Allison LeClair noted that this study does offer positive news in the sense that the city “will be able to take care of these students.”
There should not be any significant class size increases or lack of space at schools in the coming years.
Committee’s summer schedule
The School Committee also adjusted its summer schedule to ensure that it would have time to work and set goals with the interim superintendent who should begin in early July after the retirement of LeClair. The committee will meet on June 13 to discuss class sizes and ACCESS scores. They also added another July meeting and will now meet on July 18, July 31 and Aug. 22 to make sure that the 2023-2024 school year gets off to a promising start.