State of our Schools: Districts across the Mon Valley deal with declining enrollment

By Matt Petras

For the Mon Valley Independent

Many Mon Valley-area districts have experienced a double-digits decrease in enrollment from the 1993-94 school year to 2018-19, and some are having issues getting enrolled students to regularly attend. 

McKeesport Area School District underwent the biggest decrease in enrollment in the 14 schools studied by the Mon Valley Independent, down nearly 37% over the past 25 years. 

Half the school districts in the area, including Ringgold, Monessen and California Area, have seen more than 20% decreases. The others have all experienced decreases of more than 10%, except for West Jefferson Hills, which actually saw an approximate 8.8% enrollment increase. 

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 50.8 million students across the United States will attend public K-12 school this fall, which is a slight rise from last year’s 50.7 million. By fall 2028, public school enrollment is expected to increase to 51.4 million. 

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