With the April 1 reference date for the United States Census fast approaching, Superintendent of the Pine Bush Central School District Tim Mains urged everyone to respond to the 2020 census at last Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting.

This year, the U.S. Census Bureau is joining forces with schools and national partners to help ensure the 2020 Census counts all children living in the United States.

“Children under five are one of the largest undercounted groups in the United States,” Mains said. “The last time we did the census, it was estimated that one million children were not counted. We don’t want that to happen again this year.”

Young children are at risk of not being counted in the 2020 Census, especially when living in complex arrangements like dividing their time between divorced parents or living with multiple families under one roof.

“Many adults don’t recognize that we are counting not just adults in the household, but all the children no matter how small they are,” Mains said.

Another group that are often undercounted in the census are the military. Active duty military, veterans and their families are an important part of community life whether they live on base, in nearby towns or are deployed or stationed overseas.

The Census Bureau has clear guidance to help active duty military and veterans understand how to respond to the 2020 Census based on where they are on April 1, 2020. This information has been made available on their website: census2020.gov.

“The military and children. Two very important groups that we want to make sure are included this year and in every ten year census,” Mains said. “We want to make sure that everyone in Pine Bush is counted.”