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Enrollment stable since COVID; district flags Chapter 70 funding gap ahead of January budget talks
Summary
Dr. Bruno told the Groton-Dunstable School Committee that district enrollment has been largely flat over the past five years, with modest middle-school growth and a high-school dip, and warned that stagnant Chapter 70 aid is increasing local cost pressure as required net school spending rises.
Dr. Bruno, the district presenter, told the Groton-Dunstable Regional School District School Committee on Dec. 18 that enrollment across the district has been "relatively flat" from fiscal year 2021 through fiscal year 2025, with a slight rise at the middle school and a decrease at the high school tied to an unusually large senior class and a smaller incoming ninth-grade cohort.
That stability masks local shifts by school and student placement: Dr. Bruno said out-of-district placements have hovered "between 20–24" students over recent years, and the move into a new Florence Roche building produced a sharp enrollment increase at that site paired with a drop at Swallow Union after the opening.
The presentation placed the enrollment picture in the budget context that district leaders plan to revisit in January. Dr. Bruno said Chapter 70 state aid has been effectively flat over decades and now represents roughly 23–24% of the district's overall funding, down from nearer 40% about 10 years ago. "Our state subsidy stays the same," he said. "So that gap continues to grow, which means the local property tax and local communities are absorbing that increase in cost more and more every year."
Committee members pressed for more granular data. Faye asked the superintendent to return class-size breakdowns for specific high-school courses (PE, science, large-enrollment classes) so the committee can evaluate how position cuts in FY24 and FY25 affected particular courses and student support services. Dr. Bruno agreed that the committee would receive more detailed enrollment and class-size information at a future meeting.
The presentation also noted MSBA enrollment assumptions used during the Florence Roche project and referenced developer pro formas for local housing that project modest student impact. Committee members discussed tracking local development and coordinating with municipal planning to refine future projections.
Next steps: the committee will take up budget discussions in January, when more detailed class-level data and fiscal scenarios will be presented.
