During the Board of Education’s meeting on Tuesday, September 1, Superintendent of Schools Joseph V. Erardi, Jr, shared updated enrollment data.

Dr Erardi compared enrollment information from the last day of the 2014-15 school year, June 17, and the first day this school year, Thursday, August 27, with the board.

Using Head O’ Meadow Elementary School as the example, Dr Erardi said it closed the 2014-15 school year with 316 students and it started this school year with 297 students.

According to the sheet shared with board members, Hawley Elementary School had 332 students on June 17 and had 324 on August 27; Middle Gate Elementary School had 384 students on June 17 and 362 students on August 17; Sandy Hook Elementary School had 366 students on June 17 and 340 students on August 27; Reed Intermediate School had 734 students on June 17 and 702 students on August 27; Newtown Middle School had 829 students on June 17 and 814 students on August 27; and Newtown High School had 1,713 students on June 17 and 1,689 students on August 27.

“The executive summary of our elementary schools is that we opened on August 27 with 1,323 students. Projected through our enrollment work last… summer and fall was a projection of 1,321 students,” Dr Erardi said. “So to be within two students, I think, is remarkable.”

The district, Dr Erardi said, overall was projected to lose 180 students in kindergarten to grade 12, but the actual decline was 146.

According to the sheet, 4,528 students were enrolled in the district as of August 27, and the projections expected 4,494 students to be enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12.

Dr Erardi also broke out the district’s prekindergarten student enrollment and the out-of-district students, and combined with the total district he said there are 166 fewer students starting the school year than attended at the end of the 2014-15 school year.