Enrollment in Massachusetts K-12 public schools has dropped to its lowest level in three decades. The drop in students for the 2025-2026 school year reflects one of the largest enrollment declines since the Covid-19 pandemic, newly released data from the state shows.
While there are always ebbs and flows in total enrollment, this year’s downward shift is dramatic, particularly in districts that typically enroll a high percentage of English learners who are new to the country.
Total enrollment as of fall 2025 dropped by 15,442 students — a 1.6% total decrease from the start of the previous school year. There are 900,490 students enrolled in Massachusetts this year, the lowest figure since 1994, when the state enrolled just under 896,000 students.
The drop in overall enrollment is driven in large part by fewer English learners. There are 7,000 fewer English learners enrolled this year than the previous year, according to state data, a reversal of a recent trend where Massachusetts saw an average 8,500 new English learners each year enroll in the public schools.
“Enrollment changes affect every part of the education system,” said Jackie Reis, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in a statement. “Our focus is on understanding these trends and working collaboratively with districts to ensure stability and continued high-quality learning opportunities for students.”
This year’s downturn comes amid heightened immigration enforcement by the Trump administration that began when he took office last January.
Districts with the state’s largest populations of English learner students saw the steepest declines in enrollment, including Chelsea, Boston, Framingham, Brockton, Lynn, Everett, Revere and Milford.
“ I never could have anticipated that we were going to lose 344 students,” Chelsea superintendent Almi Abeyta said Friday. The district, where 89% of students are Hispanic, enrolls about 5,750 students, down nearly 6% from last year.
Abeyta said families have cited both cost of living and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent sightings as reasons for decamping the district, state or country altogether.
“They want to be in states where there’s less attention, in terms of less presence of ICE,” she said.
Boston Public Schools, meanwhile, saw 1,670 fewer students, or nearly 4% less than last year. Of those, roughly 1,060, were English learners.
“This is mainly driven by a decrease in international immigration to the district,” Superintendent Mary Skipper said at a Nov. 19 school committee meeting. She also attributed the decline to fewer children being born in Boston. The city’s birth rate declined by nearly 15% between 2017 and 2021, according to one 2023 study.
The drop in enrollment will have budgetary and personnel implications for school districts. School enrollment could impact the level of state funding districts receive next school year. If there’s no cushion in the upcoming state budget to help districts out, Abeyta said there will be cuts looming.
“We will have to think about some budget cuts and we have a budget shortfall, so therefore we’re going to be laying off some staff,” she said. “We’re going to have to make some difficult decisions as a community and we’re gonna be listening to our community.”
