ROCHESTER, N.Y. — School districts are grappling with the problem of having fewer students enrolled in school.

What You Need To Know

School districts are grappling with lower student enrollment 

Teachers and the union weigh in on why fewer children are enrolled in school

Enrollment has declined by 227,548 students in New York state public schools over the last 10 years, according to the state Department of Education 

“I’m assuming that it’s because of all of the stresses that we’re faced with outside of school,” said teacher Alicia Cheng.

“I believe, based on the statistics, there is less children being born,” said teacher Margaret Schultz

Teachers are giving their take on why student enrollment in New York state’s public schools is down, as school districts and their communities plan for budgets.

“If you want more students to participate and choose your school, provide more options,” said Rochester City Council Member Michael Patterson.

The New York State Department of Education cites that for the 2024-25 school year enrollment number at 2,421,491 in New York’s public schools. That’s down 159,578 students when compared to the enrollment numbers five years ago, and down 227,548 students enrolled in the last 10 years.

“The teachers, since you have such a small community, it’s a smaller sample size, which means that there’s more attention put on the individual rather than the whole collective sum of the student body as a whole,” said high school student DJ Lowry.

“I don’t understand how you can be afraid to compete,” said Patterson.

“Enrollment has multiple causes,” said the president of the Rochester Teachers Association, Adam Urbanski.

He says the quality of the school and its staff are key.

“There are lots of reasons why people don’t continue in public school, particularly in urban public schools,” Urbanski said. “Safety, quality [or] if you have very low teacher pay.”

Urbanski also says reasons include that fewer people are having children and the economy.

“You listen to maybe what people, younger, adults who are thinking, ‘can I afford a child or another child?’ ” he said. 

Enrollment directly impacts the bottom line. The fewer the students, the less money for school budgets.

Whatever the reasons or efforts made to prevent low enrollment – as long as the numbers are declining, school districts will have to find ways to adjust.

“It’s a complicated problem, but you’ve got to start somewhere,” said Urbanski.