Nearly 150 More Students than Expected Start School in Cheshire

The first week of school went smoothly overall in Cheshire but unexpected student enrollment across the district has some parents concerned about increased class size, particularly at Doolitttle Elementary School.

Superintendent of Schools Greg Florio told the Board of Education on Thursday that 38 more students than projected are attending Doolittle. The increase means classes sizes have reached 25 students in third grade and as many as 23 in first grade.

"Over 20 students moved to the district and registered," at Doolittle, Florio said. "We did not know 15 to 20 first graders were moving in," he added.

"The parents are not happy about the numbers," said Melissa Convertito, the Doolittle liaison to the BOE. "People don't know why we have 23 in a first grade class," she said.

Florio responded that he will attend the PTA meeting at Doolittle on Sept. 13 at 8:15 a.m. to talk with parents about their concerns. "We will try to make adjustments going forward," he said.

The entire district saw 137 more students than projected, Florio told the BOE. He said the number is expected to grow to a possible total of 150 additional students as more pre-kindergarten students are enrolled.

Cheshire High School Principal Kevin Ryan said 59 more students enrolled at the high school than had been expected. "We had anticipated a continued drop in enrollment," he said.

"This is a significant change. We have a bigger freshman class than we thought," Ryan added. The size of the freshman class is 399 students, he said, while a total of 383 were expected.

Ryan said about half the increase was caused either by families moving to Cheshire from other towns, states or countries; or by private school or Catholic school students who transferred to the high school.

"When a family moves in, they don't come in with just one child," Florio added. He said that may be the scenario at Doolittle where sibling enrollment could have contributed to the larger the first and third grade classes.

The complete school population data can be seen in the attached pdf document.