Enrollment: A Foundational Issue for SV Schools

Every student who walks out of our district and into a charter, private, or other school doesn’t just take their backpack with them, they take real dollars away from our community. Dollars that we all pay to fund teachers, programs, and opportunities at Saucon Valley.

As a school board candidate, I believe enrollment has to be one of our top concerns and a priority. Without strong enrollment, we are financially limited in what we can do to improve test scores, invest in safety, or expand programs. Enrollment isn’t just a number on a chart, it’s the key component to the financial engine that powers everything else.

The numbers tell the story here in Saucon Valley. In the 2014-15 school year, Saucon had 2,269 students. By 2023-24, enrollment had fallen to 1,931. That’s a decline of nearly 15% in a decade.

Figures based on PA Department of Education data

Different sources report slightly different totals (PA Department of Education indicates 1,938 for 2023-24, while PA Schools Work estimates closer to 2,105 students as of March 2025, using a weighted formula). But no matter which source you go with, the trendline points in the same direction: fewer students. (Saucon's 2025-2026 Preliminary Budget, linked below, puts 2024-25 enrollment at 1,873).

Why does it matter so much? Our current school budget is roughly $59 million. Because it’s spread across fewer students, Saucon’s per student spending is one of the highest in PA. Depending on which measure you use from above, that cost ranges from around $18,000 per weighted student (PA Schools Work) to over $30,000 per student when dividing the full budget by PA Department of Education enrollment counts.

Those costs come out of our pockets. And every time a Saucon family chooses another option, the tuition we must pay to other schools follows that student out the door. Fewer students = less revenue, while many of our ‘hard costs’ (salaries, building maintenance, transportation) remain fixed or even increase.

This is why I believe enrollment is the foundation to everything else we can do and accomplish. Without steady or growing enrollment, our ability to address things like safety, academic achievement, or innovative programming is limited. You can’t work on these challenges if the funding base keeps shrinking.

To be clear: I support parents’ right to choose what’s best for their children. But that means Saucon Valley must work harder to be the best choice. Families should want to be here, not just because it’s their ‘default,’ but because we provide the strongest academics and the richest school experience in the Valley.

Enrollment isn’t someone else’s problem – it’s our problem. It affects parents, teachers, taxpayers, and every resident who cares about the strength of our community. This election season, I’m asking for your help, to innovate, improve, and make our schools the clear first choice for families. If we don’t get enrollment right, nothing else will follow.

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Cost-per-student figures for district comparison taken from OpenPAGOV.