Lower school enrollment numbers could bring budget challenges for next year
By Adam Swift
School administrators are preparing for how declining enrollment this year could affect next year’s district budget.
At last week’s school committee meeting, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Almi Abeyta said the current school enrollment is at 5,704 students, down from the high of 6,100 last year. The superintendent added that she expects to see the current enrollment rise by about 100 students in the coming weeks.
“The reason why this number is so important is because in October, when we do report our numbers to DESE (the state’s department of elementary and secondary education) with the final number, the numbers in October determine the funding for the following year,” said Abeyta. “That is why we monitor the numbers very closely.”
School Committee member Dr. Sarah Neville asked what the superintendent predicts the difference in enrollment will be compared to last year given the number of ongoing enrollments.
“We are getting a lot of last-minute people registering … and we have a lot in and out,” said Abeyta.
The impact of national immigration policies has played a role in Chelsea not getting as many incoming students for the current school year, Abeyta said.
“So that’s why there is a drop,” she said. “It’s not that we are not retaining our students, because we are, but this is the impact of national policy on our school system.”
Abeyta said the district will be monitoring the enrollment figures in the coming weeks and keeping the school committee apprised with any updates.
“This will have huge budget and financial implications for us,” said Abeyta.
Neville added that she hopes the state government can step in and help the Chelsea schools with any potential financial impact due to lower enrollment.
“The way I understand it, something similarly catastrophic happened for Chelsea’s funding several years ago when they changed the way that low income students were counted and that really affected the amount of Chapter 70 (state) funding that we got,” said Neville. “At that time, the state actually did step in and help give us the funding that we needed to try to close that gap. This year, what I have been hearing from people is that they’re hoping that the money that has been put aside that has come in from the Fair Share amendment, the millionaires’ tax; that is a bucket of money that the state government can use for special circumstances hopefully like this one.”
Neville said that as the district looks forward to the next year’s budget, it needs to advocate for the state using the Fair Share funds for districts like Chelsea that have been hit hard by the national immigration policies.
“One of the reasons that I am calling it out now is because we have to plan,” said Abeyta. “The budget season doesn’t start until January, but (it is clear) that we are needing to plan and figure this out now.”
Abeyta said she has brought Chelsea’s issues to the attention of state education secretary Dr. Patrick Tutwiler.
“He knows and I am just bringing it to his attention,” said Abeyta. “I am very concerned and so we will need to get in front of this.”