State education officials say public school enrollment totals have surpassed projections once again for the 2015-2016 academic year.
During an early budget hearing, the state Department of Education asked for an additional $6.5 million to help pay for the extra students – many of them with special needs.
“[There’s been a] significant growth in special ed population. [Also a] significant reduction in private school enrollment, which is a good thing, we think, for the system," said Deputy Education Secretary David Blowman. "It puts pressure on our budget colleagues, but in some ways it’s a good problem to have.”
There are about 585 more students enrolled in state public schools than during the 2014-2015 academic year. That works out to about 78 additional classrooms than expected.
“For years and years, it was 110, 125 [new classrooms] a year. The last three years, we’ve seen 175 to 188,” Blowman said.
Since 2004, private education enrollment has dropped by almost 8,000 students and a lot of those are absorbed by public schools, he says.
The state recently partnered with University of Delaware on studying the causes of why enrollment has mushroomed. Results should be available in January.
State officials are also asking for about $9.6 million in mandatory raises for teachers in the next fiscal year.
The Department of Education’s proposed operating budget totals $1.39 billion.