Enrollment is down at regional schools

FALLS VILLAGE —The enrollment totals for the 2012-13 school year are in for the seven Region One School District schools. Region One Business Manager Sam Herrick presented the numbers to the Region One Board of Education at the monthly meeting Monday, Oct. 1, at Housatonic Valley Regional High School (HVRHS).Housatonic Valley Regional High School has 424 students enrolled, down from 464 on Oct. 1, 2011.Herrick said that 11 of those students are not included for assessment purposes — six are out-of-district tuition students and five are exchange students.Cornwall Consolidated School reported 103 students, down from 106. Lee H. Kellogg in Falls Village has 75 students, down from 86. Kent Center School’s enrollment dropped to 271, from 278.North Canaan Elementary School gained seven students, going from 308 in 2011 to 315 in 2012. Salisbury Central School lost one student, with a 2012 total of 310. And Sharon Center School dropped to 188 students, from 191.Towns share regional education costs based on enrollment totals at their elementary school and at the regional high school. Towns get a per-student assessment for each budget year based on the enrollment in the prior year. Town’s will pay for expenses in the 2013-14 fiscal year based on this year’s enrollment figures.Based on the projections for high school enrollment in 2013-14, Falls Village, Kent and Sharon will see their high school tuition drop significantly. For Falls Village, that amount will be $186,290 (18.1 percent); Kent, $197,674 (13 percent); Sharon, $200,593 (11.8 percent).Cornwall, North Canaan and Salisbury will see their assessments rise. Cornwall will pay an additional $19,902 (1.8 percent); North Canaan, $291,089 (10.6 percent); and Salisbury, $273,567 (15 percent).All the figures for the high school assessment are based on the Oct. 1, 2012, enrollment and assume no change in the 2013-14 budget. They do not include the Pupil Services and the Regional Schools Services Center. The numbers will certainly change as the Region One Board of Education heads into budget season.