Crow-Applegate-Lorane SD 66 reports enrollment increase, flags need for middle‑school staffing

Superintendent Heidi Brown told the board the district’s enrollment rose from 340 students at the end of June to 354 this month, a level she said the district has not seen since 2008.

"We ended last June at 340 students, and we're currently sitting at 354," Brown said, adding that elementary K–5 enrollment stands at 182. Brown said the district is monitoring attrition and cohort progression and expects some grade‑level shifts next year that will affect staffing needs.

Brown said the district is seeing a particularly large middle‑school cohort (seven grades combined for middle school numbered at 94 students) and that class sizes are “bulging.” She told the board the district’s goal is to add another middle‑school teacher next year if funding and enrollment trajectories justify it, and that officials are cautious about hiring in advance of funding changes.

Board members discussed the timing of any hire. Brown said state funding and the timing of enrollment counts create a lag: the district often receives the funding increase a year after enrollment rises, so administrators consider the risk of hiring too early and then having to lay staff off if numbers fall. She described a plan to split large classroom groups where possible and to use electives and blended scheduling to reduce pressures at the middle‑school level.

The superintendent framed the change as a capacity issue tied to instructional quality rather than an immediate budget crisis; she said the board would continue to monitor enrollment and revisit staffing decisions as the year progresses.