The Empire Center for Public Policy – an Albany think tank – is out with a comparison of public school enrollment. Statewide, K-12 enrollment is down 5% since the start of the pandemic in 2020, dropping 2.64% last school year. We checked Cortland County district enrollment changes over the past year. Marathon showed the biggest increase of nearly 10%, Homer 1.27%, and declines at Cortland of -3.7%, McGraw -4.85, and Cincinnatus -6.69%. For schools with smaller enrollment – any change amplifies the percentage. For the past ten years, Cortland enrollment dropped 27%, Cincinnatus -21%, Homer -16%, McGraw -9% and Marathon -4%.
The Empire Center for Public Policy, Inc. is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank based in Albany, New York.
New Yorkers can now view a district-by-district comparison of public school enrollment rates, thanks to new data mapped by the Empire Center. The map allows users to see enrollment changes in individual public school districts, and depicts population changes in one, two and ten year periods.
New York’s K-12 public school enrollment has dropped substantially for a second year in a row, for a total decline of 5 percent since the start of the pandemic in 2020. Final figures for the 2020-21 school year showed a 2.64 percent drop from 2019-20.
Cincinnatus: 474 – 508 – 6.69% decrease one year -21% ten years
Cortland: 1925 – 1999 -3.70 decrease one year -27% ten years
Homer: 1,805 – 1783 1.27% increase one year -16% ten years
Marathon: 683 – 622 9.81% increase one year -4% ten years
McGraw: 490 – 515 -4.85% decrease one year -9% ten years