District 30 to grow

Enrollment in Valley Stream District 30 is on the rise, bucking a trend of declining student population across Long Island. School officials expect the numbers to keep rising over the next two years.

The district’s official enrollment for the 2013-14 school year is 1,476 students, which was recorded the first Wednesday of October. Since then, it has grown to 1,494 children, Superintendent Dr. Nicholas Stirling reported to the Board of Education at the end of January.

By next year, enrollment is expect to grow to 1,530 students, then jump another 36 students the following year, before a period of decline begins. The enrollment projection report was completed late last year by Western Suffolk BOCES.

Stirling said that district officials are keeping a close eye on enrollment because it affects the budget, class sizes and programs. District 30’s guideline is no more than 25 students in a class in grades K-2, and no more than 28 students in grades 3-6. Stirling said that there are two classes over that limit at Forest Road School, and additional teacher aides have been added there.

The growth is primarily occurring in the north and south ends of the district. Enrollment at Forest, currently at 340 students is expected to peak at 363 in 2015-16, the same year the district’s population tops out. Shaw Avenue, the largest elementary school, reaches a high of 805 students in the 2017-18 school year, according to the report. That is an increase of 80 children over the current year.

At Clear Stream Avenue School, enrollment has been going down for the past decade a trend that, after a slight expected increase next year, will continue.

The student population in New York state has been steadily declining since 1999-2000, when its public schools housed 2.83 million students. It has since fallen to 2.58 million. Over the past few years, several districts on Long Island have closed elementary schools, or are planning closures next year.