Port Allegany School District - Enrollment

Enrollment

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, there are 957 students enrolled in K-12. There were 96 students in the Class of 2009. The senior class of 2010 has 71 students. Enrollment in Port Allegany School District is projected to continue to sharply decline losing 200 more students by 2019. Port Allegany School District administrative costs per pupil in 2008 was $781 per pupil. The lowest administrative cost per pupil in Pennsylvania was $398 per pupil. In 2009, Governor Edward Rendell proposed the consolidation of the administrations with adjacent school districts in order to achieve substantial administrative cost savings for people in both communities. These excessive administrative overhead dollars could be redirected to improve lagging academic achievement, to enrich the academic programs or to substantially reduce property taxes. Consolidation of central administrations into one would not necessitate the closing of any schools. Consolidation of two central administrations into one would not require the closing of any schools. The Governor's proposal called for the savings to be redirected to improving lagging reading and science achievement, to enriching the academic programs or to reducing residents' property taxes.

Over the 2000 to 2010 decade, rural Pennsylvania school enrollment decreased 8 percent. The most significant enrollment decline was in western Pennsylvania, where rural school districts had a 16 percent decline in enrollment. More than 40 percent of elementary schools and more than 60 percent of secondary schools in western Pennsylvania are projected to experience significant enrollment decreases (15 percent or greater).

Pennsylvania has one of the highest numbers of school districts in the nation. In Pennsylvania, 80% of the school districts serve student populations under 5,000, and 40% serve less than 2,000. This results in excessive school administration bureaucracy and not enough course diversity. In a survey of 88 superintendents of small districts, 42% of the 49 respondents stated that they thought consolidation would save money without closing any schools.