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Aberdeen School District reports 4,144 students on fall count; district down 98 from prior year
Summary
District staff told the board that the official enrollment count day on Sept. 26 recorded 4,144 students, 98 fewer than the previous year’s count of 4,242, and that the decline broadly tracks a lower Brown County birth rate.
District staff reported to the Aberdeen School District 06-1 board on Oct. 14 that the official fall enrollment count recorded 4,144 students on Sept. 26.
The figure represents a net loss of 98 students compared with the district’s Sept. 27, 2024 count of 4,242, staff said. The district noted that enrollment patterns closely track Brown County birth rates; administrators displayed a chart correlating county birth data from the Department of Health with district class sizes and said the long-term trend shows a declining birth rate in Brown County.
Josh (staff presenter) said the district closed last school year with 4,110 students and began this year with 4,144 — 34 more than the end‑of‑year figure — but compared with the prior-year count the district is down 98 students. “When we started the school year, we had 4,144,” Josh said during the presentation.
The board discussed funding implications. At one point a board member calculated that a loss of 98 students would reduce revenue by “about $850,000”; another attendee responded that the calculation was incorrect. The meeting record included differing estimates for per‑pupil revenue (participants referenced figures between about $7,300 and $8,000 per pupil), and no single per‑pupil dollar figure was adopted on the record.
Why it matters: Enrollment drives state and local funding allocations for the district. The board heard that lower birth rates in Brown County are a primary driver of the longer-term decline; the district’s projection models use birth data as one input.
Other details provided by staff: kindergarten enrollment roughly matched projections; staff noted a cohort of about 268 kindergarten students entering this year (the presenter said the algorithm predicted 269). The district noted that students who take longer than four years to graduate and students in transition learning programs are included in grade-level totals and can affect senior-class counts.
Ending: District staff said they will continue to monitor enrollment trends and use birth‑rate‑based projection models to anticipate future class sizes. No budget action was taken at the meeting.
