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Superintendent: RSU 40 enrollment down about 1% annually; homeschooling surge during COVID noted
Summary
Superintendent reported a gradual districtwide enrollment decline of about 1% per year and said statewide homeschooling rose from roughly 3,000 pre‑COVID to about 12,000 during the pandemic; county birth rates and special-education placements were cited as contributing factors.
The RSU 40 / MSAD 40 superintendent told the board the district is seeing a gradual decline in student enrollment — "about 1% per year" — and presented a five-year summary of student counts.
The superintendent connected district enrollment changes to demographic trends and pandemic-era shifts, citing state and county birth-rate data: "for the state of Maine over the past decade or so, there's been a decline of about 5 percent in new births compared to Lincoln County, which has increased by 2 percent. But in Knox County, it's decreased by 25 percent," the superintendent said. The superintendent also described a large increase in homeschooling during COVID: pre-pandemic statewide homeschooling was about 3,000 students; during the pandemic that figure rose to about 12,000 statewide, and the district experienced an approximately 80% increase in its homeschool population.
Administrators provided school-level cross-town attendance counts: Friendship Village School had 13 students attending who live in neighboring towns and 11 Friendship residents attending other district schools; Miller had 29 students residing in other towns; Warren had 61 attendees who reside elsewhere. The superintendent noted that roughly one-third of these cross-town attendees participate in district special-education programs and another third have family connections to the schools (siblings, employees), with remaining cases explained by program availability (before/after care, pre-K).
The superintendent said committee agendas (curriculum, personnel, facilities, finance) will include specific legislative and curriculum changes to help the board assess policy impacts. Board members raised potential responses such as changing attendance boundaries or expanding before-and-after care where demand supports it. The superintendent offered to follow up on whether the district can reach out to homeschool families who register, noting the district receives notification when families register as homeschoolers.
The board will review the superintendent's enrollment materials in committee and at future meetings. The meeting packet contains the full enrollment tables and related analyses.
