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GREENBURGH, N.Y. With enrollment numbers remaining steady, the Greenburgh Central 7 School District still hopes in can raise its enrollment in the future by returning residents' children to the district.
The office of the assistant superintendent said the expected school size for the 2012-2013 academic year should not change too much from the previous year's 1,739 population.
"We seem to be staying stable," said new district superintendent Ronald Ross, who was appointed in April.
Ross said the district's enrollment has not wavered much the past five years, staying between the high 1,700s and the low 1,800s.
However, there are a number of Greenburgh families who have chosen to send their children to an out-of-district school, he said.
"We have a significant number of children who go out-of-district," Ross said, "and it would be my hope that over the next couple of years that many of those parents would choose to bring their kids back to the district. We are equal or better than the schools that the kids are going to out-of-district. We can match any school in the county [on] college acceptance and enrollment. This district's diversity puts us as a leader of any school. We have much to offer. We want to find a way to help their parents begin to bring students back. They are missing out on a great education."
Ross noted Greenburgh Central 7 will not be able to recoup all students who left to attend an out-of-district school. However, he wants to bolster his district's offerings to entice families back.
"Obviously, kids who go to schools for religious reasons we'll never get those kids back," Ross said. "Some of the out-of-district students might be for special needs or for [any] various reasons. But we are [hoping to] bring kids back to the district as we improve our special education program."
According to Ross, the district has available staff to accommodate a small increase in students the next several years if out-of-district students return to the Greenburgh Central 7 School District.
The Greenburgh Central 7 School District school year starts Tuesday.
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