dgau@marshallindependent.com

MARSHALL — Enrollment counts at Marshall Public Schools are up this fall, with each of the district’s five schools showing growth over the end of last year, Superintendent Jeremy Williams said.

“Right now, we are up 94 students,” Williams told Marshall School Board members on Tuesday. “The numbers look really solid right now.”

For many families, the uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic last year factored into whether families sent their children to school in person, Williams said. This fall, it looked like more families were coming back.

“This is what we hoped to see,” he said.

As of Oct. 1, MPS had a total K-12 enrollment of 2,524 students, compared to 2,430 at the end of the 2020-21 school year.

“The end-of-year last year is kind of our benchmark, and October first is really where all our counting starts,” he said.

Preschool enrollment was down this fall, so counting in that decrease the district’s overall enrollment was up by 79 students compared to spring 2021, he said.

The enrollment growth wasn’t spread evenly across all grades. This fall, the seventh grade saw the most growth, with 30 more students than last year. Some grade levels had fewer students than last year, with the sixth grade seeing the biggest decrease, of 17 students. But with the exception of early childhood education, all Marshall schools saw their overall enrollment increase.

Williams said the Oct. 1 enrollment count is what the Minnesota Department of Education uses to measure school enrollment.

There’s usually a window at the start of the school year when students may leave or join the school district, so early on the numbers can fluctuate.

“By October first, that’s a realistic number,” he said.

MPS enrollment at the start of this month was down by more than 60 students from the very start of the year, according to enrollment data Williams provided the school board. Total K-12 enrollment on Sept. 7 was 2,589, compared to 2,524 on Oct. 1. The biggest enrollment change in the first few weeks of school was at Marshall High School, which saw a decrease of 26 students between Sept. 7 and Oct. 1.