School Enrollment Dropping At Point Beach Schools

POINT PLEASANT BEACH — Point Pleasant Beach school officials want to attract students from other communities, due to a drop in enrollment at both the elementary and high school level, according to the Ocean Star.

The G. Harold Antrim Elementary School has lost roughly 50 students since the 2013-2014 school year.
Enrollment at Antrim was 473 students in the 2014-2015 school year, compared to 424 students this school year. At Point Pleasant Beach High School, enrollment in 2014-2015 was 416 students. For this academic year, enrollment has dropped to 409 students.

“Over the course of time what you see in the last couple of years is Antrim, more than the high school, has seen more of a dip,” said Superintendent of Schools William Smith. “Some of that was carried over from [Superstorm] Sandy and also the home prices are very expensive. When you talk about Antrim you talk about young children and so young families have not been able to access the town as easily as they have in the past.”

According to the 2016 borough budget, The average home value in the borough is $595,000, according to the 2016 budget.

“Right now we are kind of a cost prohibitive town for a lot of folks," Smith said. "The high school is not impacted as much but the elementary school is where that really shows.”

District officials want to attract more out-of-district students and help realtors "market" the district, he said.

“We’re small, we get a lot of individualized attention and we have phenomenal programs," Smith said. "I have always said this is in many ways a private school experience in a public school environment.”

Some residents who had to leave their homes because of Sandy has also led to a shortage, he said.

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Image: Patch file photo.