Health & Fitness
Issue: The Growing Student Headcount in Haddonfield Schools
Haddonfield's student population has grown nearly 14% in the last 12 years. What are the challenges facing our schools and what solutions are available to deal with this "growing" problem?
Welcome Back. I hope everyone had a relaxing summer. As promised now that school is in session so begins the process of us electing 3 new members for Haddonfield's Board of Education. Of course I hope to earn your vote and become one of those members!
I was recently in a discussion about the growth of the student population in Haddonfield's schools. Over the last several years class sizes have been creeping up. Some of this growth is to be expected as the district juggles the quality of education to the costs and the 2% State Budget Cap. Along with this scaling back of teacher hires is another trend that each rising first grade class is a bit bigger than the graduating senior class. Here is the trend over the last 14 years.
Fiscal Year Student Enrollment % Change2011-12 2503.0 1.5 %
2010-11 2465.0 5.7 %
2009-10 2451.0 1.7 %
2008-09 2410.0 1.1 %
2007-08 2385.0 (0.9) %
2006-07 2406.0 0.5 %
2005-06 2394.0 1.9 %
2004-05 2348.0 1.7 %
2003-04 2308.0 (1.1 ) %
2002-03 2333.0 1.7 %
2001-02 2292.0 1.0 %
2000-01 2269.0 2.9 %
1999-00 2201.0 2.2 %
1998-99 2155.4 2.5 %
1997-98 2102.2 3.1 %
As you can see from the table there has been a steady increase of the student population. Year over year these are small, but stated another way the headcount is nearly 14% greater than when the current senior class were kindergarteners, even as our town's population has slightly decreased over the same period.
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The district estimates the class size will continue to grow 7% over the next several years. Judging from the last decade it is hard to argue with that estimate. These figures show the student population and how it is growing; how to deal with this continued boom is another matter.
How to accommodate our larger enrollments is an issue that is going to confront the board over the next 3 years. I advocate for an open, thoughtful discussion about how to address this need. The economic realities facing our residents as well as the long term continuation of our educational excellence will need to be debated and balanced. There are a few ways to "skin this cat" least palatable of which is building expansion. Flexible scheduling, academic partnerships and connected learning opportunities through technology are all tools available to use on this growing problem as well.
Find out what's happening in Haddonfield-Haddon Townshipwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
I welcome your comments here or patch or at my website. I'd also love to hear what you feel are the most important issues facing Haddonfield's schools. Lets get these discussions out in the open. As we share our concerns we can start to develop a dialog. It appears to me the BOE has lost the trust of many Haddonfield voters and taxpayers. The first step in regaining that trust is engaging each other over the heart of the issues, not just when it comes time to sell ideas.
Thanks for reading and feel free to comment or contact me one-on-one at dsiedell@yahoo.com or call me at (856) 671-1429.
Sincerely,
David Siedell
Candidate for Haddonfield BOE
