The Downward Spiral: Hoboken Public School Enrollment 2010 to 2020

Figure 1: 2010 vs 2020 Enrollment- Hoboken Public Schools
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There is much discussion in Hoboken about the "growing" district (see figure 2)...how the enrollment is "going up" and how expansion or new schools will need to be built. According to an article by Marilyn Baer of the Hoboken Reporter (January 11, 2019) we read: 

"In the past (Superintendent) Johnson and Board of Education members have said they may need more seats for students in the coming years. “If enrollment continues to grow at the rate we’re seeing recently, we will surely face the need for additional space or buildings,” said then-school board president Thomas Kluepfel a year and a half ago at a school board meeting." -Hoboken Reporter (1/11/19)

Well, perhaps a new school should be built, I would not not argue against it at all. But if the reason for building a new school is to accommodate an increase in enrollment, there is no data to support such a claim. 

Let's look at one way to examine this question. Each year, the New Jersey Department of Education requires districts to fill out an Application for State School Aid (ASSA). There is a great deal of useful information from the ASSA report. One useful aspect is the report separates enrollment by grade and by traditional public and public charter. 

Figure 2: Claims of Growing Enrollment 

One can easily see that over the last decade there has been some slight increase in the Full Day Kindergarten enrollment (from 269 to 329) and in Grade One (from 207 to 246). There is also an increase of special Education students in the elementary grades (from 107 to 190). That being said, there has been a significant loss of enrollment from Grade Three to Twelve (see Figure 1). 

People say a lot of things on social media, in the park, and at public meetings....but the reality is that the Hoboken Public School system is not growing in any meaningful way and, in fact, it is losing enrollment- especially in the middle and high school grades. 

	2010-11	2020-21	NET
Full Day K	269	329		60
ONE	207	246		39
TWO	194	192		-2
THREE	176	163		-13
FOUR	147	145		-2
FIVE	134	118		-16
SIX	148	107		-41
SEVEN	116	122		6
EIGHT	122	68		-54
NINE	131	95		-36
TEN	127	106		-21
ELEVEN	133	96		-37
TWELVE	125	78		-47
SPED ELEM	107	190		83
SPED MIDDLE	49	58		9
SPED HIGH	111	78		-33

2010-2011 Hoboken City ASSA Report
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2010-2011 Hoboken City ASSA Report
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