- One analysis shows that decline in kindergarten enrollment is driving overall enrollment drop in public schools nationwide
- Erie School District’s kindergarten enrollment has dropped by 15%
- In Milcreek School District, drop is nearly 17%
- Also showing declines: Iroquois, Corry Area districts
Lori Friello and her kindergarten students are learning and laughing together in person and online at Erie’s JoAnna Connell Elementary School.
One week, the students are in the classroom.
The next week, Friello teaches them remotely.
The setup,” Friello said, is going “very well.”
“They are very good with technology,” she said.
But fewer children in the Erie School District are joining in the district’s kindergarten experience this academic year than they did in 2019-20, before the pandemic hit.
Reflecting a trend that other school districts are seeing nationwide, the Erie School District, the largest in the county, has witnessed its kindergarten enrollment drop, a situation that can affect future school funding and the education of students who enroll in kindergarten a year later than anticipated
The Millcreek Township School District, the second-largest school district in the county, also had a significant decrease in kindergarten enrollment.
Officials speculate that families changed plans due to the uncertainty surrounding instruction during the coronavirus outbreak.
Rather than weigh whether their children should learn online-only or eventually return to in-person classes in a hybrid…
