On enrollment, schools holding their own
By Jodelle GreinerMARSHALL - Marshall, Tracy, Minneota, Wabasso and Yellow Medicine East's enrollment numbers are up and other area schools are holding steady or losing as the state calculates what those numbers mean.
Marshall Superintendent Klint Willert said the district calculated the Adjusted Marginal Cost Pupil Unit (AMCPU) on Oct. 1.
"We'll be counting students and assigning the weight of each student based on school funding," Willert said. The district counts one student as one student, but the state has a formula. "This really drives funding from the state," Willert said.
An increase in students means an increase in revenue, and a decrease means a decrease in revenue.
A kindergarten student counts as .612; grades 1-3 as 1.115; grades 4-6 as 1.06 and grades 7-12 as 1.3, Willert said.
Marshall ended the 2008-2009 school year with 2,173 students and budgeted for 2,163. The Marshall district has 2,177 enrolled as of Sept. 14, which gives the district a four-student increase over last year, but "the overall trend is declining enrollment from 2001-2003," Willert said.
The AMCPU count for Marshall in 2002-2003 was 2668.12 and the 2009-2010 count is 2,461.93. Numbers are also up in other districts because of growth from within and because of students who have open-enrolled from other districts.
"Tracy is up 59 students in the elementary and 17 students in the secondary," said Dave Marlette, the school's superintendent. "Forty of those elementary students are because of the Balaton consolidation. So for the district we are up 76 students over last year.
"We look at our numbers and do projections," Marlette added. "We've been blessed with additional kids we haven't planned for. Last few years, we've been gaining 20 to 25 kids a year. This is a great problem to have, put it that way."
He said Tracy was getting some by open enrollment and others were moving into the district.
The news is also good in Minneota, which had 440 students in K-12 in 2008-2009 and has 453 students as of Oct. 1 for the 2009-2010 year, according to Dan Deitte, superintendent of Minneota Public Schools
"This puts us up 13 students from May of last year," Deitte said. "Some moved here, but others open-enrolled from districts around here." He figures about seven open-enrolled this year. "A very large percentage (103 of the 453) of our student population is open-enrolled," he said.
Open enrollment has also helped out Wabasso, said Superintendent Ted Suss. Wabasso has 415 students, an increase of 15 from last year.
"We did have families move in, but the majority of the increase is from open enrollment," he said. "We appreciate the fact there's been a steady growth in open enrollment."
YME has nine more students this year.
"YME's K-12 enrollment is currently at 891, which is up from 882 at the end of the 2008-09 school year," said Allen Stoeckman, superintendent of Yellow Medicine East Schools. "We budgeted for 872 students, so we are pleased at the increase."
Schools steady or losing
Other schools have reported steady numbers or losses. Summer Pankonen, superintendent of Murray County Central, reported MMC has 760 students this year.
"We are up 10 students in the secondary, and down 11 in the elementary," Pankonen said.
Dawson-Boyd has 521 students in K-12 this year and ended last year at 542, said Keri Bergeson, principal of Dawson-Boyd's grades 7-12.
"We've been declining for a decade," said D-B Superintendent Brad Madsen. "We lose about 10 to 12 kids a year."
"We have 551 students this year, down slightly from last year," said Pamela Bush, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton High School principal.
"The opening enrollment for Lakeview this year was 565 students K-12," said Chris Fenske, superintendent of Lakeview Schools. "This is down nine from this time last year."
Lincoln HI has 151 students in grades 7-12 in the Ivanhoe School District. The elementary is maintained by the Hendricks district.
"We ended the year with 151," said Superintendent Dwayne Strand. "We stayed the same. The seventh grade coming in was the same as the seventh grade last year and our senior class last year is the same as our senior class this year."
Canby's 7-12 is down 14 students this year with an enrollment of 288, superintendent Robert Slaba said.
In contrast, the past few years have been a rollercoaster for Westbrook-Walnut Grove, which is down 55 this year to 490 from 545 a year ago. Back in 2001, W-WG had 435 students. The district peaked at 600 in 2006.
"We had a very large graduating class and small kindergarten class," said Loy Woelber, superintendent, explaining the loss of 55, "plus, we had a few families move out of town."
What gains or losses
mean to the district
Student enrollment is directly related to state funding and the school district's budget. Changes in enrollment also mean classes are added or cut.
"Each student is worth $7,000-$8,000 depending on the different programs they fall into," Marlette said.
"If the numbers hold, we should see about an extra $145,000 flow into the district than initially budgeted," Deitte said of Minneota. "The district did add a third kindergarten teacher to ensure class sizes didn't get too big. We also added a half time fifth and sixth grade teacher to help lower class sizes as well. The extra funds are also helping us with cash flow, as the state is holding back 27 percent of the general education funds."
Wabasso also added staff.
"Increases in class size put us in a position to add a teacher," Suss said of Wabasso "so we'd have reasonable class sizes in the elementary. We haven't made changes in the secondary."
Tracy added class sections because of enrollment.
"We had two sections in elementary, now we have three sections for K-6," Marlette said.
"With a larger graduating 2010 class (85) than the projected kindergarten class (60) in the fall of 2010 the additional revenue from the increased enrollment this fiscal year will hopefully lessen budget reductions in the spring of 2010," Stoeckman said.
But if the district has lost students, revenue declines and the budget must be adjusted.
"It's been a natural process of trying to make reductions as we're able to accommodate the loss of revenue," Madsen said. "It's something we try to stay ahead of. We're trying to protect jobs and keep local people employed."
"We knew this was coming," Woelber said and W-WG had been planning. "We have one of the best fund balances in the area.
This district will still have trouble absorbing that many missing students.
"Takes a hit," Woelber said. "We're gonna have a referendum this fall. It's not enough to keep what we've got. We'll have to cut."
"Zero funding from the state along with the unpredictability of the unallotment dollars will no doubt affect our financial situation," Pankonen said. "Murray County Central is fortunate to not be dealing with both of those issues this year. We have a financial plan in place and, like most Minnesota districts, we will move forward through the biennium with caution."
"What we've tried to do is remain innovative in programs, maintain our commitment to small class sizes and promote student opportunities in the district," Willert said. "Because of the way schools can use stimulus money, the district has utilized those dollars to cushion any impact of declining enrollment and state aid to schools. We'll continue to watch the trend of our enrollment. We know this is a trend that is not unique to Marshall. It's impacting all of southwest Minnesota. As a region, we need to focus on and be concerned about it.
"I see it as a message to our entire community that we need to continue focusing on the attraction/retention of young families in our community," Willert said. "The school district depends on it, as does our broader economy."
