New report addresses new neighborhoods’ impact on schools

David Chait

We will be welcoming new neighbors to Hopewell Township over the next decade and beyond. Three projects are currently under construction: one on Scotch Road, one off Federal City Road near 295, and one near the Pennington Circle.

To to ensure that we are prepared for these new neighbors, the Hopewell Township Committee, along with our partners at the Hopewell Valley School District, funded an independent demographic study. The demographer, chosen by the school district, looked at the potential impacts on our schools, including enrollment drivers, enrollment trends, and most importantly, enrollment projections.

The results of this independent study were shared during a districtwide Zoom on Wednesday, Jan. 11. I joined the Zoom not only in my capacity as a member of the township committee, but also as a district parent, with a daughter at Bear Tavern.

At the meeting, the demographers shared lots of helpful information with residents. Specifically, they provided three sets of projections and recommended using the “medium projections” for guidance.

At a high level, it was shared at the meeting that no new schools in the only 4.6%, or 171 students, higher than 2013-14 enrollment, the first year of data in the report, and still below 2006-2007 enrollment.

Furthermore, 40% of the coming 10 year growth comes from typical, organic factors like births, and home sales. This means that over the next 10 years, there district superintendent Rosetta Treece shared that the district is investigating incremental changes needed to prepare such as classroom space, class size and resource utilization. And we are committed to continue working with the district towards potential solutions. district will be required.

Historically, the schools have seen a decrease in enrollment with PK-12 enrollment decreasing by over 7% during the past 10 years. Current enrollment is more than 500 students below the district’s peak enrollment, which came during the 2006-07 school year.

Intuitively, this decrease provides physical capacity for more students to be absorbed into the district.

In looking at the recommended “medium projections,” the district would see growth of 12.6%, or 431 students, over a period of 10 years, which is through the 2032-33 school year. For context, this is will be only 250 to 260 new students from new neighbors associated with development to meet the township’s affordable housing mandate.

The district made clear at the meeting that, based on these projections, there will be no need for any additional schools in the district, though renovations and configuration adjustments will be needed to accommodate. Bear Tavern and, to a lesser extent, Stony Brook Elementary will see proportionally larger student population increases and may require additional capacity, such as an addition on Bear Tavern.

Based upon the demographer’s report,

Additionally, with these increases in enrollment taking place over the next 10 or more years, impacts will be incremental for anyone with students already in the district. Nonetheless, all stakeholders are committed to addressing these changes in a timely manner for future students.

I would like to thank Dr. Treece, assistant superintendent Robert Colavita, Board of Education president Anita Williams Galiano, the district, the board, and the independent demographers for the report and for hosting such an informative and open meeting.

The township committee is pleased to help fund the study. We are grateful for our partners in the district, and are always committed to working together.