Warrior Run School District - Enrollment

Enrollment

In April 2011, Superintendent John Kurelja, reported that the district has been experiencing a significant decline in enrollment over the past five years. The state permits furloughs of staff when enrollment declines 1.4% annually. Warrior Run has declined 1.9% per year. The district is examining the realignment of staffing to reduce expenses. On a local radio program, Superintendent John Kurelja reported that the district has experienced a 9% decline in enrollment from 2006 to 2011, which indicates a realignment of programs and staffing is necessary. He anticipates decreasing the staffing per state guidelines through staff retirements and furloughs to address a $450,000 budget deficit.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, there are 1681 students enrolled in K-12 for the 2009 school year. There were 146 students in the Class of 2009. The class of 2010 had 136 students. Enrollment in Warrior Run School District is projected to continue to decline by another 150 students by 2017. Warrior Run School District administrative costs in 2008 were $631.78 per pupil. The lowest administrative cost per pupil in Pennsylvania was $398 per pupil. In 2009, Governor Edward Rendell proposed consolidation of school district administrations with adjacent school districts in the respective county to reduce the total number of school districts from 500 to 100. The proposal called for excessive administrative overhead dollars to be redirected to: improve lagging academic achievement, to enrich the academic programs or to substantially reduce local property taxes. According to Governor Rendell, the consolidation of central administrations into one would not require the closing of any schools.

Over the next 10 years, rural Pennsylvania school enrollment is projected to decrease 8 percent. As the enrollment declines, per pupil administrative costs of the schools will continue to rise.

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 respondents stated that they thought consolidation would save money without closing any schools.