Andover Enrollment Decline Continues: School Committee Meeting

ANDOVER, MA — Andover Public Schools enrollment continued its decline for the 2020-2021 school year, according to preliminary data presented to the School Committee Thursday.

According to the presentation, in-district enrollment dropped over 100 students from last year to this, measured on Oct. 1 each year. This followed an even more severe decline the previous year.

>>Andover Kindergarten Enrollment Dropped Nearly 8% Last Year

There were 5,577 in-district students last year and 5,467 this year. (The official 2020 number varies by three students from data previously reported in Patch.)

The in-district enrollment declines were across all levels about pre-K.

• Pre-K: Enrollment increased from 54 students on Oct. 1, 2020 to 79 students on Oct. 1, 2021.
• Elementary: Enrollment declined from 2,382 students to 2,355.
• Middle: Enrollment declined from 1,382 to 1,352.
• High: Enrollment declined from 1,759 to 1,681.

The only school with an enrollment increase was High Plain Elementary, which went from 517 students to 535.

"This is quite a drop, as we can all see," School Committee Member Shannon Scully said.

"If that number holds, our Chapter 70 money is going to be quite abysmal," she said, referring to state school aid that depends partially on enrollment. "This is an early preview of what our budget season might look like this year."

"We don't have a growing birthrate, so our numbers are not growing in that way," Superintendent Magda Parvey said.

District officials intend to examine grade-level data and whether there are over-age kids in kindergarten and first grade to see whether there was a rebound among young student enrollment after parents their kids out of school during the worst of the pandemic.

The full meeting video is available here from AndoverTV.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.