Downward trends in enrollment over the past decade seem to be leveling off as the Martha’s Vineyard public school system prepares to welcome students back to Island classrooms next week.

“I believe we will have pretty close to the same enrollment as last year,” said superintendent of schools Dr. James H. Weiss. The number is estimated to be 2,041 students among the six Island public schools, up one since the last tally of 2,040, which was taken in February. A further 180 students will attend the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School, which operates independently from the other Island schools.

Despite New England School Development Council projections showing that Martha’s Vineyard schools should see a steady decrease in enrollment in the next few years, Dr. Weiss anticipates that the overall number will remain largely the same. “We should be around 2,000 students for the foreseeable future,” he said. He expects to see the number of students in the elementary schools decrease and enrollment in the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School increase.

Factors in this fluctuation include economic trends and the transitional nature of the Island population. According to Dr. Weiss, the people who can afford to live on the Island tend to have older children. “The Island as a whole is getting older,” he said. But people are also more mobile, and it is common today for families to move from one place to another more frequently than in previous years. “People come and go regularly,” said Dr. Weiss.

Budget cuts from last year have had an impact on Island schools, hitting Oak Bluffs the hardest. The school needs to cut nearly $200,000 from its budget. The school committee met with the Oak Bluffs School Advisory Council on Monday to make some recommendations for spending reductions. “At that time, we developed a plan to cut that money,” said Dr. Weiss. He added while other schools do not face such drastic cuts, they all will manage finances very carefully as a precaution.

The budget also resulted in several layoffs, including a high school janitor, a driver’s education teacher and a special education assistant. Budget planning for the next fiscal year will begin later this month.

Two new people will take over administrative roles this school year. Susan Stevens begins as head of school in Chilmark, and Sandy Mincone will serve as athletic director at the high school.

Six new teachers will begin the year at the high school, four in the language department. The high school offers three four-year foreign language options, French, Spanish and German, but, in line with a nationwide shortage of world language teachers, the positions can be difficult to fill and maintain. According to Dr. Weiss, it is most difficult to find instructors for German. If the schools continue to have difficulty retaining a licensed teacher, “German may have to be phased out,” he said, noting the Island’s longstanding history of offering German.

According to Dr. Weiss, the schools are adding few new programs this year. Instead, given budget constraints, he is “looking to consolidate and improve what we have in place.” There will be an Islandwide initiative targeting math and writing programs, and the high school will launch a grant-funded writing lab. Regional high school principal Stephen Nixon hopes to emphasize writing skills by introducing two mandatory written research assignments per year, each in a different discipline. “[The] ultimate goal [is] raising student achievement in writing,” he said.

The high school will continue to use EdLine, a Web site which allows parents and students to access grades, homework assignments, attendance and discipline records. The information site was introduced last school year to help the school become more environmentally conscious and to cut back on paper costs. “We’re slowly incorporating less and less bulk mailings and more and more electronic [information],” said Mr. Nixon.

The Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School will open the school year with an enrollment of 180 students, the highest since the school opened in 1996. Its high school program alone will expand to 44 students, up eight from last year. Charter school director Robert Moore attributed the increased enrollment to the growing appeal of personalized instruction and smaller class sizes. “We cherish and celebrate the specific interests and passions of our students,” said Mr. Moore. At 180 students, the school has reached its capacity for enrollment.

The charter school will open the school year with a new addition to its building. “This has been in the planning stages for 18 months,” said Mr. Moore. “We projected to open [it] up for this school year, so we’re pleased that everything is coming into line.” The addition will hold four classrooms, clearing space in the existing structure for new lower and upper school art studios.

The school will hold an opening celebration for the addition on Tuesday, Sept. 15. “We’re really excited about the new opportunities that our new addition can bring to our community,” said Mr. Moore. The art studios will allow art instructors Nichole Shank and Cara Yahrling to teach together, when in the past they have worked in separate classrooms. Mr. Moore feels the new arrangement will help to encourage pride and creativity in young artists.

The charter school will welcome a new assistant teacher, Jennifer McHugh, to assist in one of its first and second-grade classrooms. Mr. Moore also is excited about an initiative which will expand the math program and integrate technology through the whole curriculum. “We’re careful,” said Mr. Moore of why they have been able to expand, rather than make cuts. “We’re very judicious in what we spend our money on.”

It also will be important this year for all Island schools to prepare for an increase in cases of H1N1, the virus known as swine flu. “We’re going to have plans in place to handle kids who get it,” said Dr. Weiss, citing efforts to work closely with parents and medical personnel.