Elementary, middle schools show declines in numbers from last year
The 2016-2017 school year is here and with it enrollment numbers that are not as low as initially projected. The school system continues to battle with low student enrollment numbers not seen for the past 16 years.
The total student count on Aug. 11 was 19,925. By Aug. 12, that number has risen to 20,015. A slight increase in enrollment is customary during the opening weeks of the new school year and should be expected to increase into September.
The school system ended the 2015-2016 school year in May with 20,100 students.
Preliminary enrollment projections from February anticipated 19,646 students.
First week enrollment numbers showed 53 fewer elementary students over the first week of the 2015-2016 school year. Similarly, middle schools showed 40 fewer students than the same time a year ago. High schools, however, added 30 students compared to the first week of school last year.
The greatest gains thus far in elementary schools came at Oak Grove which added 37 students, followed by Kedron adding 32 and Peeples adding 31. A sampling of schools with fewer students beginning the school year were Minter with 42 fewer students and Crabapple with 33 fewer students, followed by Braelinn and Burch with 20 fewer students each and Cleveland, Fayetteville and Spring Hill with 16 fewer students each.
Four of the five middle schools lost students at the beginning of the year, with Rising Star losing 60, Booth losing 30, Whitewater losing 27 and Bennett’s Mill losing seven. Flat Rock made up some of the difference by adding 86 students over the first week last year.
Pertaining to high schools, only Fayette County came up short over last year, losing 35 students by Aug. 12. Starr’s Mill added 37 students, Whitewater added 27, Sandy Creek added 10 and McIntosh added three students.
A look at enrollment figures over the past 17 years showed Fayette schools in the 2000-2001 school year with an enrollment of 19,832. The following year, 2001-2002, enrollment numbers had grown to 20,337.
Fayette had a high of 22,367 students during the 2006-2007 school year, just as the Great Recession took hold. While enrollment numbers have yet to return, the Fayette economy has largely recovered and the school system’s budget of $193 million is only $4 million away from a all-time high.
