Buffalo, NY (WBEN) School districts across the United States are hiring additional teachers in anticipation of what will be one of the largest kindergarten classes ever as enrollment rebounds following the coronavirus pandemic.
Locally, some superintendents in Western New York say the surge won't be as great for kindergarten, and there may be more pre-k students getting enrolled.
"Certainly it's a trend, we're watching it very closely," says Dr. Wendy Patterson of SUNY Buffalo State. "What has happened because of the COVID year is parents have decided their children should not be in organized schooling last year, waiting until a year later than normal." Patterson says educators feels parents are the first educators and they have the best idea of what's best for their children.
Patterson says there's a possibility it may not be as huge here. "You would need to look at the population, because the demographics are not going up. Our overall numbers aren't as generous as they used to be," says Patterson.
In Niagara Falls, Superintendent Mark Laurrie says the surge may not be so great. "We are seeing an uptick in kindergarten enrollment," says Laurrie. "That's good because our kindergarten enrollment was down."
"Even more affected was our pre-k program for three and four year olds. We saw a real decline mainly because it was hybrid or remote." Laurrie predicts the bigger surge will be in those early years. "We use some statistical data from live births from the hospital to predict and plan so we know we could be in kindergarten. We're a little off of those numbers but not of major concern," adds Laurrie. Laurrie says those are strong feeder programs. He adds some kindergartners are coming in who have not been to school yet, which concerns him.
As far as demand for teachers, Laurrie says that's in place. "We've planned and plotted spaces for kids. We have the teachers, we have the room, we just need the registration," explains Laurrie.
Hamburg Schools Superintendent Michael Cornell says the same trend is happening in his district. "Our kindergarten enrollment is comparable from last year, but we do have an increase in our pre-k enrollment and we had to add a position because of enrollment there,' says Cornell, also president of the Erie-Niagara Superintendents Association.
Cornell says across the region, kindergarten enrollment ranges from about the same to a slight increase in a couple of districts. But he says some parents are taking a wait and see approach. "It's too early to predict what parents will do regarding kindergarten enrollment. Right now, parents are waiting to see if there will be more restrictions in public schools come September," says Cornell.
As far as demand for teachers going up, Cornell says something else will drive up that demand. "If you have a number of retirements in a given year, that will drive up demand," explains Cornell.
