School Closure Analysis

The first stage of a School Closure Analysis has been completed. This stage focussed only on the premises being used to justify a school closure as a way to close a budget gap. Both declining enrollment and class size were examined.

Below is a summary of the conclusions. To read the entire document and its supporting graphics and tables, click here.

Enrollment Conclusions

The statement that enrollment is declining enough to justify a school consolidation at this time is not supported by the data. A more accurate conclusion is: "The steepest decline in Northampton's public school enrollment occurred before 2001. After that, the trend leveled off, with minor increases and decreases, hovering just above and below the 1300 mark."

The important question is: how long will this 1300 trend continue? Will enrollment increase as the new Leeds development is completed, as the King Street condos are filled, as Hospital Hill becomes populated? Or will enrollment drop—and if it drops, will it slide slowly down or will there be a steep fall?

To best answer these questions, more study needs to be done using local census data and neighborhood surveys. As a community we should determine the true threshold for when school consolidation makes sense; that is, when consolidation yields long term savings while causing minimal disruption to the city, the district and the quality of children’s educational experience.