An education consultant told the Westport Board of Education tonight that the town’s elementary enrollment could drop off sharply over the next few years.
However, Donald G. Kennedy of the New England School Development Council, known as NESDEC, said the pattern could reverse itself quickly depending on a number of factors, especially the economy.
“Will you lose?’” he asked. “Maybe, maybe not…these are strange economic times.”
Kennedy said based on his analysis, Westport’s middle school population will likely remain the same while the high school population will continue to increase.
The NESDEC official cautioned that because Westport was so different from other towns, it “may not have drop off like other communities.”
“Westport usually recovers more quickly than other communities,” Kennedy said referring to the economy.
He said given the pattern in place, Westport will probably “level off and grow again in student population in a shorter amount of time” than some other communities.
Kennedy said one result of the difficult economy is that Westport has experienced a growth in school enrollment as parents have moved their youngsters from private schools to public schools.
He said this pattern could be reversed quickly if there is an improvement in the economy.
Donald O’Day, chairman of the board, said while the projections were useful he noted that many assumptions used 2000 census numbers and that these numbers were nine years old and likely very outdated.
