North Fork schools feel growing enrollment pressure as new year begins

North Fork schools are opening another academic year with enrollment pressures continuing to reshape classrooms, staffing — and even how some districts use their buildings.

As kindergartners stepped off buses and seniors arrived for the first day of classes Wednesday in Mattituck-Cutchogue, one of the biggest challenges facing local schools was already visible: There are simply fewer students filling the seats.

In Mattituck-Cutchogue, that decline is already changing the district’s physical footprint. School officials announced last week that they plan to vacate the longtime Depot Lane administrative center by June 2027, move offices into existing school buildings and lease the property to Just Kids Early Childhood Learning Center.

“We’re just looking into the future and trying to make moves to best serve the district,” said Superintendent Shawn Petretti, who led the local push to confront the trend, including raising the prospect of eventually consolidating North Fork school districts.

Mattituck-Cutchogue’s enrollment fell by more than a third, from 1,481 students in 2012 to 981 in 2024, according to state Education Department data previously reported by The Suffolk Times.

The district projects 939 students this year, 16 fewer than its peak enrollment of 955 during the 2025-26 school year. This year’s incoming kindergarten class has 66 students, compared with 88 seniors.

In Greenport, which welcomes students back next Tuesday, the district projects 596 students for the 2026-27 school year, down from 639 as of March 30.

The district expects 32 students to enter kindergarten and 55 to enter 12th grade, illustrating the imbalance between the smaller classes entering the school and the larger ones preparing to leave.

Superintendent Beth Doyle said the most significant enrollment-related change this year is in pre-K, where the district will eliminate one of its two classes.

“We had 32 pre-K students in two classes last year and currently have 13 students enrolled for 2026–27, so we will operate one pre-K class,” she said. “We are reassigning the second pre-K teacher to third grade, which allows us to add back a math RTI teacher to provide targeted intervention and support for students.”

The enrollment shift comes as Greenport adjusts to a difficult financial year. Voters approved the district’s $26 million spending plan in May with a 7.91% tax levy increase after officials faced a $3.1 million budget gap driven by rising costs and declining projected revenue.

The budget eliminated 21 positions — 10 instructional, 10 non-instructional and one administrative — though Ms. Doyle emphasized that those reductions were driven by the district’s finances rather than its enrollment.

“The current enrollment projections have not resulted in any additional staffing reductions,” Ms. Doyle said. “The district had to excess 21 staff members last year because of its financial circumstances, rather than as a direct response to enrollment.”

Greenport’s enrollment picture is closely tied to the neighboring Oysterponds district.

Oysterponds operates a K-6 school for children from East Marion and Orient, then sends its resident students to Greenport for grades seven through 12. The relationship also runs in the other direction: Oysterponds accepts tuition-paying elementary students from neighboring communities, including Greenport.

Oysterponds School, which welcomes back students Tuesday, projects 103 students this year, up from 86 last year, making it the only school in the survey expecting an increase.

Southold, which also begins classes Tuesday, has experienced a substantial long-term decline, falling from 858 students in 2012 to 639 in 2024, according to state Education Department data.

The district projects 593 students this school year, down from 620 last year. That includes 73 students entering 12th grade and just 35 entering kindergarten.

Superintendent Anthony Mauro told The Suffolk Times that the district’s enrollment decline has stabilized in recent years.

“Our decline is leveling out, and we have already made our adjustments and right-sized our staffing, inclusive of sharing multiple positions with Greenport,” Dr. Mauro said. “We will continue to assess every position annually.”

Farther west, Riverhead and Shoreham-Wading River open Thursday, with both districts projecting more modest declines.

Riverhead, by far the region’s largest district, projects 5,264 students this year, down 98 from 5,362 last year. The difference between incoming and outgoing classes is considerably larger: 331 students are projected to enter kindergarten compared with 489 entering 12th grade.

Enrollment had ticked up the previous year, from 5,350 students in 2024-25 to 5,362 last year.

“Overall, we have been consistent in our enrollment,” Superintendent Robert Hagen said. “Our programs, staffing and class sizes are consistent with prior years.”

Shoreham-Wading River projects 1,915 students, down from 1,948 as of June.

The district currently has 155 kindergartners and 162 seniors, a considerably narrower gap between its incoming and outgoing classes than in several neighboring districts.

“Despite a slight decline in enrollment from last year, Shoreham-Wading River continues to provide courses based on demonstrated student interest and need, while we continue to remain focused on managing our budget responsibly,” Superintendent Gerard Poole said.