To the Editor:
Your story dated August 25, 2015 appears to be extremely misleading and lacks fact-based information. The headline “Already Over Crowded, Staples will get 100 more Students” is extremely misleading to your readers. This leaves the reasonable reader to believe Staples High School will get 100 more students this school year… And that the high school is in a crisis mode with no plan to deal with overcrowding.
The Facts are below:
In 10/1/2012 SHS had actual enrollment of 1,882 students
In 10/1/2013 SHS had actual enrollment of 1,837 students
In 10/1/2014 SHS had actual enrollment of 1,855 students
In 10/1/2015 SHA was forecasted to have enrollment of 1,888
Source: Board of Education Adopted Budget
The facts show that Staples High School enrollment is forecasted to be approximately the same level in 10/2015 as it was in 10/2012. Moreover, enrollment for SHS, as forecasted by the administration for 10/1/2015, is an additional 33 students vs prior year, not 100.
The numbers and the story do not add up.
Paul Block
Member, Westport Board of Education
(Editor’s note: the original story says Staples will have 100 more students than it can accommodate. It does not say 100 more students will enroll this fall, though the headline erroneously suggests that is the case. The headline and story have been updated. The story now notes Staples has been overcapacity for several years, but the 1,900 figure cited by Landon is the highest enrollment in recent years and is 45 more than last year.
Paul-thank you. I would like to ask-were Dr Landon’s comments taken out of context? He was quoted talking about giving up closets, etc. Is that wrong? Is the whole story wrong?