Student Enrollment Down; Education Budget Up

In the school year 2000-2001, there were a total of 2,209 students enrolled in all four Clinton schools. Today, there are 1,992 students enrolled.

Enrollment is going down.

For example, in the future school year of 2020-2021, enrollment is projected at 1,754 students.  

The difference of 20 years (from 2000 to 2020) is 455 fewer students, or what equates to the population now of the Eliot Middle School.

The Board of Education (BOE) recently released a chart illustrating the past enrollment figures and projected enrollment of students in Clinton.

Since the '00-'01 school year (the first year on the chart), enrollment has continued to drop.  For the past 12 years (2000-2012), enrollment has dropped by 217 students.

The 10-year projections beginning this year show enrollment dropping by another 238 students, for a total of 455 fewer students in the schools since 2000.

That figure, 455 students, is approximately the number of students now enrolled in the Jared Eliot Middle School.

Yet, figures submitted by the BOE show an increase in the school's operating budget. Figures from '06-07 show a budget of $26 million, while the current year's budget is $30.5 million, a difference of $4.4 million.

So what does this mean to the future of the schools, to teachers and other school staff, to students, and taxpayers?

Analyze the numbers on the chart and you weigh in.

School Year

Actual Enrollment Numbers

School Budget '00-'01 2,209 '01-'02 2,208 '02-'03 2,218 '03-'04 2,178 '04-'05 2,167 '05-'06 2,174 '06-'07 2,117 $26,031,142 '07-'08 2,106 $27,380,769 '08-'09 2,084 $28,617,337 '09-'10 2,024 $29,190,574 '10-'11 2,036 $30,163,713 '11-'12 2,019 $30,183,463 '12-'13 1,992 $30,461,728 School Year

Projected Enrollment         

Proposed Budget

'13-'14      1,974 $30,640,862 '14-'15      1,936 '15-'16      1,889 '16-'17      1,850 '17-'18      1,830 '18-'19      1,809 '19-'20      1,786 '20-'21      1,754