Allegheny-Clarion Valley School District - Enrollment

Enrollment

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, there are fewer than 860 students enrolled in K-12 in 2010. The senior class of 2010 has 88 students. The class of 2011 will have 76 members. Enrollment in Allegheny-Clarion Valley School District is projected to continue to decline by over 100 students in the next five years. Allegheny-Clarion Valley administrative infrasturcture cost in 2008 was $823.65 per pupil. The lowest administrative cost per pupil in Pennsylvania was $398 per pupil. With limited local taxation resources, opportunities for students are limited. Issues are compounded by the district being divided across county borders. This results in different taxation levels for residents in the different counties of the school district.

Governor Edward Rendell proposed that consolidation with adjacent school districts, in each county, would achieve substantial cost savings. The savings could be redirected to improving lagging reading and science achievement, to enriching the academic programs or to reducing residents' property taxes.

Over the next 10 years, rural Pennsylvania school enrollment is projected to decrease 8 percent. The most significant enrollment decline is projected to be in western Pennsylvania, where rural school districts may have a 16 percent decline. 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). As the enrollment declines, per pupil administrative costs of the schools will continue to rise. In March 2011, the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants Fiscal Responsibility Task Force released a report which found that consolidating school district administrations with one neighboring district, would save the Commonwealth $1.2 billion dollars without forcing the consolidation of any schools. The study noted that while the best school districts spent 4% of the annual budget on administration, others spend over 15% on administration.

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. Less than 95 of Pennsylvania's 501 school districts have enrollment below 1250 students, in 2007. 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.