All seven district elementary schools and both middle schools are expected to have fewer students than last year. This is no real surprise. Long-range projections done for the school district a few years ago forecast a slow but steady enrollment decline for the foreseeable future. Superintendent Gerald Fowler says district enrollment has been in gradual decline since the early 1970s, when it peaked at about 6,700. This year district officials expect only a few more than 4,700 students.
Fowler sees no enrollment upturn on the horizon.
Carlisle itself has little room left for new housing. Even in relatively undeveloped areas of the school district, such as Dickinson Township, zoning does not encourage large housing developments, he says. Projected class sizes vary, but on the whole the averages are lower than last year, says district Assistant Superintendent Elementary Mary Kay Durham. Most first-grade classrooms will have fewer than 20 students. The averages are larger in some kindergarten classes.