Enrollment drops continue afflicting many North Jersey school systems

Dave Sheingold | NorthJersey

They're not yet looking like ghost towns, but a growing number of schools across four North Jersey counties continue to face a long-term loss of students amid a historic shift in suburban living patterns.

The trend — mainly affecting wealthier communities and those with longer work commutes — has left more than half the school systems in Bergen, Essex, Morris and Passaic counties with less students than they had at the start of the decade.

Enrollment dropped in 83 of the region's 155 districts from the 2010-11 to the 2017-18 school years, with numbers off by at least 10 percent in 31 of them. A few districts have absorbed losses of 20 percent or more.

Change in school district enrollments across the region:

The drop-off at least partly reflects declining interest among young parents for the traditional house-lawn-car suburban lifestyle, in favor of more lively urban or somewhat urban communities that also are closer to commuter train lines.

Change in enrollments for Bergen County school districts:

Hardest hit communities include Saddle River, a one-school district in a Bergen County town of multimillion-dollar homes, where enrollment is off 36 percent this decade. More than half the school's fourth grade enrollment has vanished (44 students down to 21), while almost half of the kindergarten and sixth grade desks are collecting dust bunnies instead of book bags.

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There also are the borough and the township of Mendham, similarly well-heeled Morris County communities (former Gov. Chris Christie lives in the township). Enrollments in those districts slumped 26 percent and 20 percent, respectively.

One of the biggest declines in Passaic County has come in West Milford, a town miles from the nearest train line. Enrollment there has shrunk in every grade by at least 10 percent, and is down 16 percent overall since 2010, prompting the district to consider closing one of its schools.

Change in enrollments for Passaic County school districts:

Other districts — including Franklin Lakes, Harrington Park, Ringwood and Pequannock — also have taken or are considering measures to deal with fewer students, either by eliminating classes or reorganizing schools.

Change in enrollments for Morris County school districts:

The ebb tide showed signs of reversing last year in about a third of the districts that had lost students since the start of the decade. But while those showed enrollment upticks in the 2017-18 year, losses began to hit others that had previously averted the pattern.

On the flipside are school systems in more urban clusters of eastern and southern Bergen County closer to New York City, the Morristown area of Morris County as well as those running along or near train routes in Essex County. Hackensack, Cliffside Park, Edgewater, Madison and South Orange-Maplewood enrollments are all up more than 10 percent this decade and included increases last year.

Change in enrollments for Essex County school districts:

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