The Glendive Unified School Board touched on the topic of student enrollment at its meeting on Monday evening, following up on a report that the district had lost a significant number of students from the fall. While the numbers show a net decline in enrollment, the district’s principals cautioned that the actual situation is more fluid than numbers can represent and enrollment numbers have already changed since the enrollment count was conducted.
Official school enrollment counts are conducted twice a year, in October and February. The counts help determine a school’s Average Number Belonging, a variable that the state uses to determine how much funding a school is entitled to.
The February count this year saw a reported drop of 3% in the student population across the district, 35 students. Most of the decrease in student numbers occurred at Dawson County High School, where there were 23 fewer students in the spring count than in the fall, about 7% of the school’s student population.
According to DCHS Assistant Principal John Larsen, the students left the district for a number of reasons. Out of the ones accounted for in the February enrollment count, 11 switched to home school, seven transferred out, two left to take the High School Equivalency Test (HISET) and three left the district for other reasons.
The enrollment count, however, is only part of the story of what is happening in school districts everywhere.
As Superintendent Stephen Schreibeis pointed out, a lot of movement is happening in the schools right now. People are moving in and out regularly, so relying on the count numbers for an accurate view of the situation isn’t really doable.
“It’s been really transient, so we’ve had a lot of kids move in and a lot of kids move out. It’s amazing how many students are fluctuating right now,” he said.
Jefferson Elementary School Principal Caroline Coovert pointed out that in her school, which was the only school in the district to see an increase in enrollment at the time of the February count, has seen significant change in just the last month.
According to her written report to the board, JES has seen a net increase of three students since the February count, bringing the most recent total to 293 students.
“Just in the last three weeks, I’ve had nine more students come in that we have placed,” she said. “We’ve gone down, but we’ve had a lot that have moved in too.”
Washington Middle School Principal Katy Kennedy’s report noted a significant increase in population in the last month, adding 19 students from count day for a total of 249. However, that does not necessarily mean 19 middle schoolers were added, as Kennedy attributes the higher number to the school’s preschool program.
While Kennedy includes these students in her reports to the GUSB, they are not counted in the school’s population on count days. This creates a significant disparity between the count day numbers and the actual numbers.
Other schools have also seen changes in their net totals as of March 6.
According to board reports, DCHS had a total loss of one student, bringing its population to 319, and Lincoln Elementary School has seen a net decrease of one student, bringing the current count to 236.
Overall, this puts the current reported district-wide enrollment at 1,097 for a net increase of 20 students, a 1.8% increase in student numbers in the last month.
The next meeting of the Glendive Unified School Board is scheduled for Monday, April 10 at 7 p.m.
