MONROE, CT — Acting Superintendent of Schools Joseph Kobza reported a growth in enrollment of 48 students during the Board of Education meeting Monday night.
Monroe public schools has 3,171 students as of Oct. 1, the date when enrollment numbers are reported to the Connecticut Department of Education. Last year, Monroe had 3,123 students.
“Every cohort of students is up, with the exception of students moving from eighth to ninth grade, which is very normal that you have a little drop,” Kobza said of how some students opt for private and technical schools at that age.
“The loss was only five students, which is amazing,” he added. “I think it speaks to the level of education that kids get here in Monroe.”
To put the numbers in perspective, Monroe’s student enrollment was still higher 10 years ago at 3,894 in 2009, according to statistics from the school district. However, Oxford students were enrolled at Masuk back then.
Click here for a pdf file tracking enrollment compared to certified staff from 2009-10 to 2019-20, which was used in a budget presentation last year.
In this year’s enrollment, one number Kobza said jumped out to him was a drop in kindergartners at Stepney Elementary School from 75 to 58 children. He said the enrollment is usually in the 70s, adding he is concerned that a number of parents may have decided to forgo kindergarten this year, opting to keep their children home due to uncertainty of COVID-19.
“We’ll have to come up with a plan and see what Stepney’s kindergarten numbers look like next year,” Kobza said.
Overall, he said 25 students are being home schooled this year, compared to zero last year. If those students come back next year, Kobza said administrators will have to figure out where they will fit in.
