Empty Classrooms, Higher Costs

Of the 65 school districts in the study area, only seven have seen their student population increase since 2000, five of which were in Orange County while Putnam and Sullivan had one each. The remaining 58 have experienced decline.

A higher percentage decrease in student enrollment has occurred in counties that are farthest away from New York City. Columbia County lost 30% of its student population in the years since 2000. Greene saw it fall by 25.3%, Ulster by 22%, Sullivan by 15.9%, Dutchess by 15.4% and Putnam by 12.7%. Orange County public schools saw a decline as well, by 7%. Altogether, the seven counties lost 14.5% of their kindergarten through grade 12 students, from 182,502 in the 2000/01 school year to 156,017 in 2018/19. The decline in student enrollment is much steeper than the commensurate drop in overall population in the study area.