A drop in the number of students enrolled in Boston Public Schools (BPS) this year is linked to a large decrease in the number of migrant and “newcomer” students, according to Supt. Mary Skipper, who briefed the Boston School Committee on the matter late last month. The current enrollment of BPS as of this week, according to the numbers provided to the newspaper on Wednesday, sits at 46,824 students, including in-district charter schools. That is a decrease of approximately 1,700 students and may be an all-time low for the district.
“This is mainly driven by a decrease in international immigration to the district,” BPS spokesperson wrote in a statement provided to The Reporter on Nov. 12. “We are continuously reviewing the data to understand the variables impacting the change while maintaining the quality of services to ensure we continue to meet the needs of all our students.”
The district saw a slight increase of 260 students last year and held static the previous year with no real increase or decrease – both circumstances attributed to large numbers of newcomers and migrants entering the district.
However, in last month’s briefing to the School Committee, Skipper said that roughly half of those “newcomer” students did not return this fall.
“I think what we’re seeing currently with enrollment, and, for us, October is a very fluid month, but we’re definitely seeing decline in enrollment and we’re seeing it specifically around our newcomer population,” said Skipper. “That is roughly about half of what it was last year.”
All public school districts must report their annual enrollment figures to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) as of Oct. 1. A spokesperson for DESE told The Reporter they would likely have Boston data posted publicly in early December, and it would include more detailed information about individual school enrollments within the district.
Last year, BPS enrollment increased to 48,154 students (including in-district charter schools) after falling below 47,000 in 2023-24. Those were all-time lows for the district, which had 63,293 students in 1995-96, and 57,349 students in 2005-06, and even 54,667 (including in-district charters) 10 years ago.
Skipper said they have made efforts this fall to recover the newcomer population in schools and to identify where they have gone this year.
“We have been really making a tremendous effort with phone calls and reassuring families and multi-lingual learners that we are a safe and welcoming district,” she said.
Additionally, lower birth rates and families with fewer children in general have created smaller classes, called cohorts, over many of the elementary grade levels in BPS – meaning there will be no increases without an immigration influx.
“That’s a consequence of Covid and a consequence of people not having more than one or two children,” she said. “We did in our enrollment projections account for that in thinking about the long-term facilities plan. We may at some point going forward need to adjust that further if enrollment trends were to continue in that direction.”
