This article was originally published on The Reporting Project at Denison University, a nonprofit news source covering Licking County, Ohio, and neighboring regions that publishes work by students, faculty, and community members. An excerpt is below. The full article can be found on the Reporting Project and the Newark Advocate
A new study commissioned by Granville Exempted Village Schools indicates that enrollment in the district is likely to double in the next 30 years.
The study by Cooperative Strategies projects an enrollment increase from the current 2,535 students to well over 5,000 by 2050. The projection shows a steep rise in enrollment beginning in about 2025 – the same year that Intel is scheduled to begin operations at its new computer-chip manufacturing campus 10 miles west of Granville.
“There’s no doubt we’re going to change,” said Jeff Brown, Granville superintendent. “The question is how, and can we be intentional about it?”
Granville school buildings are already near capacity, Brown said, and recent historical growth had been at a relatively slow, incremental pace upward. But enrollment is already starting to outpace projections from before Intel announced its big development plans. The district had predicted 146 kindergarteners this year but enrolled 183.
