The latest data from the U.S. Census Department shows a larger Ridgefield than just five years ago, reinforcing school officials’ belief that families with children are moving here for the quality of the schools.
The influx of school-age children helps to balance an otherwise downward enrollment trend as the town’s birth rate has slowed, according to data.
According to the U.S. Census update of 2014, the town had a population of 25,205, up 527 from 24,678 in 2010. There was generally steadily growth each year.
The age of the people moving to town can’t be known from the Census data because it does not report on demographics, only raw numbers, but the school district sees it from a different perspective.
“We are getting a disproportionately greater share of people moving to Ridgefield for our school system,” said Christopher Murray, vice chairman of the Board of Education. “The birth rate is still low but the move-in factor has increased to compensate for it. Its a trend we’re seeing forming.”
There are 5,113 students in the district this year, down 116 from 5,229 the year before, 2013-2014.
Mike Zuba of Cheshire-based Milone and MacBroom, a district enrollment consultant, said last November that in the next five years all the elementary schools will experience significant declines. All the schools will flatten and enrollment will stay flat or begin to rebound in 2021-2022.
However, those are said to be better projections than just a couple of years ago, when a different analyst’s numbers were used. The previous data showed a far more steep downward enrollment trend. School officials have long considered closing an elementary school, but that’s on the back burner now. What’s causing the projections to be adjusted upward and move closer in time are Zuba’s persistency ratios, which are calculated from historic enrollment data to determine growth or loss in a class as it progresses through the school system.
Marked by an increase in estimated migration over the last three years and confirmed by analysis of housing sales, Zuba said the persistency ratios show a continued uptick in Ridgefield over the next 10 years.
He added that 289 housing sales yielded 124 new students in the district in 2013-14 and 78 of the 124, 63%, were elementary students, indicating an in-migration of families with school-age children.
“It’s emphasizing a housing market uptick, which usually means parents are moving in and kids who are not necessarily born here are coming into the schools,” he said.
That is exactly what Murray believes.
“We are a pocket of excellence, and the town itself is the number one town in Connecticut,” Murray said.
From the perspective of the Chamber of Commerce, which keeps a close eye on the community’s development, the quality schools draw people to town, said Annette Hasapidis, chairman of the board for the chamber.
“It’s a confluence of factors. First you have an excellent education system,” Hasapidis said. She said there is also community spirit and the appeal of a small but dynamic community that draws people to Ridgefield.
The Census data showed Fairfield County in general has an increasing population, compared with other areas of the state where the population is declining.
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