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Salem School District reports steady enrollment; special-education ABC program to open at North Salem next year
Summary
Superintendent Mara Palmer reported near-flat overall enrollment with kindergarten registrations below projections and announced that the district will add an ABC autism program at North Salem next year in addition to existing sites.
District leaders told the school board Tuesday that overall enrollment is essentially unchanged since March, with small shifts at a few schools and a plan to expand special-education capacity.
Superintendent Mara Palmer said elementary enrollment showed a net change of zero month‑to‑month; Woodbury has one fewer student and Seoul School gained one student. The high school’s enrollment remained unchanged. Palmer said the preschool population increased by three students and CTE plus junior ROTC showed three fewer students. Overall change districtwide was one student compared with last month.
Palmer also reviewed the district’s special-education program placements and said the ABC autism program currently housed at Fisk will open an additional section at North Salem next year. Board member Kelly Moss asked whether students would be split between Fisk and North Salem and whether the programs would serve the full K–5 span; Palmer replied both programs are currently planned as K–5 and students will be assigned based on home address and IEP needs.
Kindergarten registrations currently stand at 224 students districtwide; the district’s earlier projection was about 261, leaving the district about 37 registrations short of projection. Palmer said the district typically sees an additional 30 to 40 enrollments between May 1 and the start of the school year and that each child already has a home-school placement.
Palmer also provided a one-page summary requested by the board on the LEAP program at Lancaster School and a list of other special-education programs and their locations: the Choice program at Seoul School; the ABC program at Fisk (and expanded to North Salem and Woodbury); the LEAP program at Lancaster and Woodbury; and the LIFE program at Salem High School.
Board members asked staff to track changes and report back; no policy action was taken at the meeting.
