New Canaan projects 4,008 students for 2025–26; HR says early hiring aims to secure candidates
Summary
At its March 17 meeting, the New Canaan Board of Education heard a Human Resources report projecting 4,008 students for next year and outlining early hiring, vacancies, and retention themes identified in exit interviews.
The New Canaan Board of Education on March 17 heard a Human Resources update that put projected enrollment for 2025–26 at 4,008 students, slightly above the district demographer's forecast of 3,997.
The HR presentation, delivered by Bianca, a representative of the Human Resources Department, explained why the district is starting hiring earlier than in previous years and listed current vacancies and recent retirements.
The enrollment projection matters because it drives staffing and budgeting. Bianca said the district is monitoring numbers closely and is “starting hiring for next school year … much earlier this year” to secure qualified candidates in what she described as “a really shallow pool” for some positions.
Bianca told the board the district’s demographer and HR numbers are close: the projected 4,008 compares with a projected 3,997 and with last year’s October 1 actual enrollment of 4,103. She said the district recorded five retirements this season (four before the previous weekend and one the morning of the meeting) and described current open positions by school. At New Canaan High School, openings include an art teacher, a school counselor, a special education teacher, a psychologist and a social studies teacher for advanced economics. At Saxe (SACS) there is a grade 5 opening and two French positions; West currently has a preschool opening and a kindergarten resignation; the district also listed a shared district psychologist vacancy.
Bianca said many searches have progressed to committee review and demonstration lessons and that several positions were expected to name finalists within two weeks. She described the district’s hiring process as rigorous, including performance tasks and multi-round interviews, and said administrators had been trained on screening and retention topics in recent sessions.
On retention, Bianca said exit interviews and meetings with new teachers and administrators showed a recurring theme: support from administrators and the structure of coaching and onboarding. She summarized staff feedback this way: “The support … their relationships with their principals and assistant principals and the school culture piece of it.” She also told the board that commute and quality-of-life considerations had prompted some departures to more local districts.
Board members asked whether the district tracks retention metrics by school. Bianca said the district has year-by-year counts of new staff and retirements and that some comparative data exist, but formalized retention-by-school metrics were not part of the presentation.
The HR office will continue monitoring retirements and applicant pools and return with updates as hiring progresses.
