Kent schools enrollment down, meaning fewer state dollars

While some schools in the Kent School District are scrambling to make room for larger-than-expected populations, overall enrollment in the district is down so far this year by 130 students, which could cost the district hundreds of thousands of dollars in state funding they are counting on to meet their budget.

The numbers, from Sept. 25, or the ninth day of school, represent an increase in students from the first day, but are still below what the district hoped and expected so far this year.

According to Financial Director John Knutson, the district projected having 25,817 students. As of the Sept. 25 count, the district had 25,668 students enrolled.

Knutson said additional students are expected to be added to the rolls before the Oct. 1 count.

“We’re going to come pretty close,” he said, “maybe slightly down.”

Meeting the projections is important because the district’s budget is based on receiving a certain amount of money from the state, tabulated through enrollment projections.

“Each student is worth roughly $5,000 in state funding,” Knutson said, meaning 100 fewer students than projected could leave a $500,000 hole in expected revenues, which, while only a small portion of the district’s total revenue, will still need to be made up.

“If we continue to stay down – and throughout the year we don’t gain any more students – we have already counted the revenue based on those projections,” Assistant Superintendent for Instruction and Learning Merri Rieger said Wednesday.

Rieger said a more accurate enrollment number will come Oct. 1, but since all employees are already contracted for the year based on the projections, the district may have to find other ways to meet budget projections.

“If this revenue doesn’t come in we have to find the resources somewhere,” Rieger said.

The biggest drops in enrollment are in the district’s elementary schools, with 146 fewer students than expected. Enrollment at the middle schools is actually 48 students more than expected, but high school enrollment is also off by 32, making the total 130 students district-wide.

The biggest gap between projections and enrollment occurred at Neely O’Brien Elementary School on the valley floor, with 80 fewer students than expected. East Hill Elementary and Lake Youngs Elementary also experienced significant drops.

Rieger speculated the drop at Neely may have had something to do with a nearby apartment complex’s decision to raise its rent by several hundred dollars per month, as well as potential flooding threats this winter.

But while enrollment is down overall, Rieger said that some schools saw increases in their populations.

The new Panther Lake Elementary, for example, has 18 more students than anticipated, with the majority of new students showing up for kindergarten.

“They just all come in in kindergarten,” Rieger said.

Whereas the school was planned to have four kindergarten classes, the influx of students means there are now five kindergarten classes at Panther Lake, each with 23 or 24 students, according to Rieger.

The school that saw the largest increase from projections, however, was Millennium Elementary, which has 31 more students than expected. Rieger said the district has learned that due to the recession, some families are living together to reduce rent costs, which drives up populations at some schools over others.

Meadow Ridge, Sunrise and Horizon Elementaries also saw increases over projections.

Glenridge Elementary also saw an increase in students, but due primarily to the Public School Choice option of the No Child Left Behind Act, which allows parents to move their youngsters from a school that is not meeting Adequate Yearly Progress into a school that is.

Rieger said 250 students in the district took advantage of the public choice option, including 90 from East Hill, Neely and Springbrook that ended up at Glenridge.

“They have the room,” Rieger said.

Following the Oct. 1 counts, Rieger said the district would take a closer look at the numbers on a class-by-class basis and try to move staff around, because moving staff has less impact on students than forcing kids to change schools.

Rieger said while enrollment differences are similar to what the district has experienced over the past several years, it highlights the transient nature of the district’s population and is at the fore this year because of new class-size limits developed as part of the contract that ended the Kent Education Association strike earlier this month.

Rieger estimated that 13 teachers total (including eight full-time teachers) would probably be moved and said the district still has openings for 20 teachers, including 12 full-time positions.

“It’s a balancing game,” she said.