Fewer Students, Higher Costs
Public schools face many challenges. In this, the first part of an ongoing series, we examine the effects of declining enrollments.
For the last two decades, public schools in the Highlands have been losing enrollment. It's the same story across much of the country, thanks to declining birthrates and the rise of homeschooling and charter schools. In New York, the problem has been exacerbated by people leaving the state.
The Beacon district, which includes four elementary schools, a middle school and high school, had 3,600 students in 2004 but fewer than 2,500 today, a drop of 31 percent. Haldane had 846 students and 774 today, a 9 percent drop. Garrison had nearly 300 students; now the K-8 district has fewer than 200, a 34 percent drop. Overall, New York state has lost 17 percent of its student population.
At the same time, the cost of educating each student has risen faster than inflation over the past 20 years because of the rising costs of special education, English language learners, health care, energy, school security and social and emotional support staff, according to Brian Fessler, chief advocacy officer of the New York State School Boards Association.
In 2004, the cost per pupil in Garrison was the equivalent of $32,000 when adjusted for inflation; today it is about $40,000, an increase of 24 percent. For Haldane, the cost grew from $29,000 to $35,700, or 23 percent. In Beacon, it rose from $22,600 to $32,700, a 45 percent increase. Statewide, the cost per student went from $25,000 to $34,000, or 38 percent.
Declining enrollment, rising costs and a tax-levy cap formula that ties rates to inflation or 2 percent, whichever is lower, has created a crisis for some districts. In January, the state comptroller identified 31 of New York's 675 districts — none from the Highlands — in "fiscal stress," up from 22 in 2024. In Yonkers, the public schools face a $100 million deficit for 2026-27 and have discussed major layoffs. In New York City, public schools have been consolidating due to the loss of 100,000 students in the last five years.
In the Highlands, the gradual loss of students, rising costs and the rate cap have created staffing and financial challenges. Haldane, Garrison and Beacon each proposed the maximum tax-levy increases allowed for 2026-27, ranging from 2.27 to 5.53 percent, which voters approved on Tuesday (May 19).
Beginning in the fall, Haldane will expand its middle school to include fifth grade to avoid layoffs due to declining enrollment, said MaryAnn Seelke, the principal. Seelke projects that enrollment in sixth, seventh and eighth grades will decline over the next four years from 185 to 150, or by 21 percent.
The district would normally have four teachers per grade, plus a special educator, depending on need. "As enrollment declines, that's a lot of teaching power for a small number of students," said Seelke. Bringing the fifth grade into middle school will add two teachers, bringing the total to six for the fifth and sixth grades. The district is losing a fifth-grade teacher through retirement, Seelke said.
Haldane began planning for declining enrollment three years ago by aligning the elementary and middle school schedules. "This is the last step," Seelke said. "It is designed to better utilize faculty so that we don't have to put people on the furlough list."
There are also pedagogical reasons for placing fifth graders in middle school, she said. Other Hudson Valley schools have expanded their middle schools to give 10- and 11-year-olds more support as they mature (see below).
Haldane to Shift Fifth Graders
When Haldane expands its middle school to include fifth grade in the fall, it won't only be to address declining enrollment. The district will also follow an approach to nurturing adolescents adopted by districts across the country.
Fifth graders — typically ages 10 and 11 — are experiencing "exponential growth, physically, socially and emotionally," said MaryAnn Seelke, Haldane's middle scho...
