Canton Public Schools: December 16 School Committee Meeting Recap: Enrollment Data, Visual Arts, Honor Society Induction

Press release from Canton Public Schools:

Matthew Reid

December 27, 2021

CANTON — Interim Superintendent Derek Folan would like to share with the school community several notable updates and information provided at the December 16 Canton School Committee meeting.

A recording of the full meeting can be viewed here.

Additional meeting materials, including the Interim Superintendent’s Report and all documents shared at the meeting are available here.

Interim Superintendent Folan had the opportunity to listen to parents and guardians at the elementary and secondary levels recently during Zoom community forums. The forums provided Interim Superintendent Folan and the District with important feedback for the Entry Plan report that is being prepared, as well as for the development of a District Strategic Plan.

After the upcoming December break, Interim Superintendent Folan will be sending out a Google Form, where families can offer feedback on the areas of District strengths, improvement areas and vision for the future.

The District shared updated vaccination rates and information as of December 16. Information was taken from the Massachusetts Immunization Information System (MIIS).

According to the data, 1,701 students in the Canton Public Schools are fully vaccinated, 299 students have received one of the two doses of the vaccine, and 1,997 students have received at least one vaccine.

The report also contained a breakdown of the vaccination status of students at each grade level. CHS, as a school, is currently 74% vaccinated. CHS would need to reach a 80% vaccination rate to consider lifting the mask mandate.

Interim Superintendent Folan thanked the teachers, staff and nurses in the Canton Public Schools for their hard work keeping COVID-19 numbers in the District relatively low compared to state averages. He added that any parent or guardian who has questions about COVID-19, including relating to travel during the upcoming December break, should contact their school nurses.

To view the complete vaccination report, click here.

Director of Finance and Operations Stephen Marshall provided an update on enrollment,

demographics, and class size throughout the district.

According to the report, the Canton Public Schools district-wide K-12 enrollment was 3,149 students on Oct. 1, which is a decrease of nine students from the same time last year. Over the last 10 years, changes in enrollment have never exceeded 100 students over the prior year. An increase in enrollment for this fall was projected, with the assumption that many of the students who left the Canton Public Schools for private school or homeschool last fall would return.

While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to present challenges this year, students have returned to a full in-person learning model at all levels in the Canton Public Schools.

Projections for next year indicate a decline in enrollment of 24 students to 3,125. The projection methodology takes into consideration data from the NESDEC (New England School Development Council) 2017 Demographic Study, as well as historical trends.

• Connecting schools with mental health resources and service providers
• Facilitating long-term, comprehensive strategies to address student mental health

• Funding school-based mental health education, awareness, and suicide prevention programs

This press release was produced by Canton Public Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.