School enrollment numbers climbing

The school district is inching closer to meeting expected enrollment projections as officials make sure to meet class size requirements and that every student is properly counted to receive state tax dollars.

According to recent enrollment numbers, the district is 488 students short of meeting the 22,543 projected enrollment - a difference that has shrunk each day since the start of school.

Heather Martin, executive director of business services, said enrollment numbers generally are lower at the start of the school year and gradually increase. Superintendent Bryan Blavatt said the enrollment fluctuation is on track with prior years.

"What's funny is that as the week goes on, you'll actually see that number decrease a bit as students transfer or drop out," Blavatt said. "But right now it's just a balancing act as the numbers change and fluctuate, and I'm confident that we be vigilant about doing that because it's really important for us to get everything right."

While it's imperative every year, Blavatt acknowledged that recent class size restrictions are even more important this year - with the district facing $3.2 million in fines if it's not in compliance by October.

Since Monday, enrollment has grown from 21,096 to 22,055 - shrinking the gap between actual and projected enrollment by roughly 1,000 students, from a 1,447 difference on Monday to a 448 difference on Wednesday.

Along with counting enrollment, Blavatt said the numbers have affected transportation as well. Schools are already juggling new start and dismissal times and adding a new high school to the bus run.

Although buses arrived late Monday, Blavatt said he's impressed with how well district staff and the community have worked together to straighten out potential scheduling conflicts.

"It's especially important that you get everything right at the beginning of school because you have a lot of confusion at the start of school already," Blavatt said. "Some kids are just learning which bus they're going to ride and so staff has done an excellent job in working out all those. And you'd be surprised that parents have been pretty good too. I've received a lot of phone calls from parents and they've been pretty good about helping us work through this."

Meanwhile, school officials expect to know how close they stand to meet class size requirements following the first 10 days into the school year. Martin previously stated that by that time staff should have a better idea how many new teachers and other staff members are needed to meet those requirements.

As to busing, Blavatt said next year he plans to hold a test run of all school buses a week before school starts to work out any transportation glitches and give parents an idea of when buses would arrive in their neighborhoods.

"As you know, I'm not happy with how things are done until they're done perfectly," Blavatt said. "But I think we should do this so parents can look out and see when the buses arrive. And maybe we'll give out items to kids who stand at their stops as well and make it a community event."