District reports slight enrollment decline but no classrooms over capacity

Decatur Public Schools reported a small enrollment decline for the 2025–26 school year but said no buildings are currently over capacity, during the board’s Sept. 9 meeting. Dr. Lusby, presenting the annual enrollment update, told the board registration completion rose to 90% this year from 88% in August 2024.
The update matters because class-size caps are set by board policy and affect staffing and scheduling. Dr. Lusby said the district aligned monitoring and adjustments to board policy 6200 so principals can focus on instruction rather than emergency class reassignments.
Dr. Lusby summarized the data: “Registration completion improved this year from 88% to 90%,” and said that as of the fall no grade-level classrooms are over the board’s approved caps. He said elementary and secondary enrollments are “stable” compared with last year and that the shift from multiple over-cap classrooms in 2024 to none this year reflects improved planning and registration follow-up.
Board members asked follow-up questions about the net loss and registration queue. A board member asked, “So in the overall, we’ve lost 45 students?” and the presenter corrected the figure to 42. Dr. Lusby said there are about 94 students still in the registration queue whose completion could close that gap and noted the district will review updated counts again in October.
The presentation included timeline details the board discussed: online registration opened July 1, 2025; families missing the July 31 deadline were required to check in at their schools; and the district plans another enrollment review in October. Dr. Lusby also referenced the district’s 2022 demographer study and said current enrollments approximate projections that had been expected later in the decade. The board did not take a formal vote on the enrollment presentation; it was presented for information and follow-up.