West Massachusetts News

There were 8,805 students enrolled in Franklin County districts in the 2022-23 school year, 1% less than the previous year, according to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The county’s data showed that ninth grade had the biggest classes with 748 students, while pre-kindergarten had the least number of students that year with just 462 students.

Countywide, Greenfield Public Schools welcomed the most students during the 2022-23 school year.

The main offices of all districts mentioned in the story are located in cities associated with Franklin County.

Students in Massachusetts are predominantly white, according to state data from 2020. 35% of students were considered people of color.

Across the state, Hispanic and Latino students suffered the highest high school dropout rates.

Underrepresentation is also found among educators in Massachusetts. The Rennie Center reported that only nine percent of teachers are people of color.

District	Total Enrollment in 2021-22	Total Enrollment in 2022-23	% Change from Previous Year
Greenfield Public Schools	1,604	1,446	-9.9%
Greater Commonwealth Virtual District	1,030	1,155	12.1%
Gill-Montague Regional School District	845	863	2.1%
Mohawk Trail Regional School District	762	788	3.4%
Pioneer Valley Regional School District	657	660	0.5%
Frontier Regional School District	610	606	-0.7%
Franklin County Regional Vocational Technical School District	583	602	3.3%
Orange School District	536	524	-2.2%
Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District	557	523	-6.1%
Frontier Regional/Union#38 Public Schools	326	309	-5.2%
Four Rivers Charter Public District	218	219	0.5%
Sunderland School District	188	177	-5.9%
Leverett School District	144	141	-2.1%
New Salem-Wendell Regional School District	130	131	0.8%
Erving School District	133	129	-3%
Whately Public Schools	121	128	5.8%
Shutesbury Public School District	115	124	7.8%
Conway Public Schools	145	123	-15.2%
Hawlemont Regional School District	123	91	-26%
Rowe School District	65	66	1.5%