In a media release, Hazleton Area School District announced a record enrollment of more than 14,000 students: “This year student enrollment grew by an additional 3%, building on a 12% increase since 2020.”

Fun fact: In 2023-24, the state issued projections that predicted Hazleton Area would hit 13,124 enrollment this year. The same report offered projections out to the 2033-34 school year, predicting growth will peak in 2031-32 at 13,776, declining slightly each of the following two years.

Obviously, the state got the numbers a tad wrong. But this is nothing new. The projections have been unreliable for decades. And locally, Hazleton Area — Luzerne County’s largest district in square miles and number of students — has suffered recurring space shortages because of the state’s prognosticat

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