Public School Enrollment in Orange County
What does this measure?
This indicator measures public school enrollment trends across various school districts in Orange County over multiple years. The dataset includes historical enrollment figures from 2003-2004 and tracks changes through 2023-2024, with projections for 2025. It also calculates percentage changes in enrollment over different periods to highlight trends in student population growth/decline. The data provides insights into demographic shifts, migration patterns, and potential impacts on school resources and planning
Summary Statement
The overall trend indicates a significant decline in public school enrollment in Orange County, decreasing from 66,020 students in 2003-2004 to 55,039 in 2023-2024, representing a decrease of approximately 16.3%. Most school districts experienced enrollment declines, with some, such as the Tuxedo Union Free School District, seeing reductions as high as 42.1%. A few districts, such as Middletown City School District, had relatively stable numbers, with only a 2.8% decrease from 2006 to 2010, with a slight rebound afterward. Notably, Cornwall Central School District experienced an extreme drop in enrollment, plummeting from 3,122 students in 2018-2019 to a mere 3 in the subsequent year (2019-2020), suggesting a drastic shift, possibly due to the start of the pandemic. However, in the following years (2021-2022), the district saw a recovery with an increase in enrollment, reaching 3,000 students.
Sources
NYS Education Department: District Level Data K-12 Totals - 1994-95 to 2012-13
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/irs/statistics/enroll-n-staff/home.html
https://www.nystart.gov/publicweb/
https://data.nysed.gov/enrollment.php?year=2017&instid=800000040440