Portland
Saco Grew 10% While Maine Lost 12,000 Students
In a state where 88 districts just hit their lowest enrollment on record, Saco added 179 students. That 10.3% gain since 2017 makes Saco Public Schools the largest traditional district gainer in Maine...
Black and White Students in Maine Attend School at Nearly Identical Rates
Nationally, the story of chronic absenteeism and race follows a predictable pattern. Black students are chronically absent at substantially higher rates than white students. The gap widened during COV...
One in Three Maine Districts at Record-Low Enrollment
Portland Public Schools lost 253 students this year. That is not what makes the number notable. What makes it notable is where the loss left the district: at 6,302 students, Portland is at its lowest ...
One in 20 Maine Students Is Now an English Learner
Nine years ago, Maine's public schools enrolled 5,376 English learners. This year, the number is 8,293. That 54.3% increase happened while the state lost nearly 12,000 students overall, a collision of...
78% of Maine Districts Never Recovered From COVID
In the spring of 2023, Maine's public school enrollment ticked up for the second consecutive year. The COVID shock appeared to be fading. Districts that had lost hundreds of students were cautiously o...
Maine Lost More Students This Year Than Any Since COVID
South Portland is preparing to cut nearly 80 positions, 42 of them teachers, and close an elementary school. Portland proposed eliminating 20 jobs from a $180 million budget. Lewiston is making staffi...
Lewiston Is Growing While Maine Shrinks
Across the river from Auburn, which has lost 331 students since 2017, Lewiston is doing something almost no district in Maine can claim. It is growing. Three consecutive years of enrollment gains, fro...
One in 18 Maine Students Is Now Black
Nine years ago, a Black student in a Maine public school classroom was a statistical rarity: 3.5% of total enrollment, roughly one in 29. By 2025-26, that share had climbed to 5.6%, one in 18. In a st...
168,923: Maine Hits Its Enrollment Floor
The last time Maine added students to its public schools was 2023. Since then, the losses have grown each year: 1,307, then 1,562, then 2,134. The 2025-26 school year brought enrollment to 168,923, th...