Stable enrollment

Total student enrollment has been largely stable in the Middlesex Borough school district for the past 15 years and is projected to stay that way into the 2028-29 academic year.

That was the finding of Ross Haber and Associates, which conducted a demographic study this spring for the Middlesex Board of Education.

“Between 2018-19 and 2023-24 the enrollment decreased marginally by 21 students,” the study’s executive summary reads. “The five-year projection indicates that the enrollment will increase by approximately five students. This is indicative of stable enrollment in the district.”

The study was commissioned at roughly the same time that Superintendent Dr. Roberta Freeman stated publicly that the school district is experiencing a classroom space problem.

Past student counts and forecasts for the coming years using birth and demographic data comprise the completed Haber study.

With the demographic study finished, the board on May 8 hired a different consultant to assess its existing facilities. Parette Somjen Architects will be paid $19,500 to report on district building capacities and conditions.

The demographic study projects total district enrollment rising marginally from 2,066 students in the 2023-24 academic year to 2,071 pupils in 2028-29. 

But within that total, there figures to be a sharp increase at Middlesex High School. MHS is projected to go from 600 students during the current academic year to 654 pupils in five years’ time.

Over the same period, Woodland School is projected to drop from its current 314 pupils down to 259, essentially offsetting the MHS rise. Likewise, an anticipated enrollment drop at Mauger School would be offset by an increase at Watchung School.

Even though the district’s total enrollment is projected to rise minimally in the next five years, the 2,071 total foreseen in 2028-29 would be lower than the school system’s total of 2,087 students a decade earlier in 2018-19.

The anticipated absence of large-scale development is a factor contributing to the stable enrollment forecast, according to Haber.

“Middlesex Borough is almost fully built out and we did not find any significant new developments that would impact enrollment,” Haber’s report states. “We did review the number of permits for new residential construction and certificates of occupancy between 2020 and 2022. There was a total of nine permits and sixteen certificates of occupancy issued in that time period.” 

“The total population of Middlesex Borough in 2018 was 13,659,” the study notes. “According to the United States Census Bureau the population in 2010 was 13,652. That indicates that, with some small fluctuations between 2010 and 2018 the population has remained remarkably stable. The current estimate from the census is that there has been moderate growth in between 2018 and 2023, but this does still indicate relative stability in the population.” 

“In 2010 the total enrollment in the district was 2,000 students so the enrollment in the district has also remained stable, not only over the past five years, but going back as far as 2010,” the study states. “The district has remained diverse ethnically with some changes in the percentage of both white and Hispanic enrollment. “

“The community has also gained in the areas of median and mean income and has increased the median age,” the study found. “The stability of the population indicates that community residents are remaining in Middlesex well after their children no longer attend the schools.”

The report concludes by projecting stability in the district’s student count in the coming years.

“The population of Middlesex Borough and the enrollment in the Middlesex Schools has shown stability between 2018-19 and 2023-24,” the reports states. “The projection for the schools shows a continuance of this stability through the 2028-29 school year.”

Reminder

Subscribe to Inside – Middlesex. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. It is absolutely free.

Visit Inside – Middlesex on our new Facebook page.