Enrollment slide, energy costs to drive city's school planning

Portland Press Herald, April 28, 2008

(excerpt) State education officials are preparing new forecasts for statewide public school enrollments, and the results are expected to confirm earlier projections of continued declines until 2012.

That trend, combined with skyrocketing energy prices, is expected to drive up per-pupil education costs and keep the pressure on the city of Portland to move ahead with elementary school consolidation.

"It's pretty clear that the trend is there, and they're going to have to deal with it," said Jim Rier, policy director at the state Department of Education.

The Portland School Committee's decision last fall to close Clifford Elementary School and build a new school on Ocean Avenue highlighted the impact of declining enrollments on educational costs in the city. Many residents fiercely defend preservation of smaller neighborhood schools, while others argue that the city simply can't afford to keep as many buildings open with enrollments in decline.

School Committee Chairman John Coyne said the Portland district will study the new projections and draw on other forecasts as it prepares a comprehensive plan for all of its buildings. He said energy costs will play a significant role in that process.