Bossier Parish consultant projects ~1,200–1,300 student growth in seven years; Benton High already over design capacity

A consultant told the Bossier Parish School Board on June 3 that the district could see roughly 1,200 to 1,300 additional students over the next seven years and that Benton High School is already above its design capacity.

Mike Hefner, chief demographer for Geographic Planning and Demographic Services LLC, presented a seven-year enrollment projection and repeatedly stressed that the figures are a planning guide rather than exact counts: "The main thing is that these projections are a guide. They're not ... meant to be precise," Hefner said. He described his approach as conservative, noting he avoids overly optimistic housing-absorption assumptions.

Hefner said the projections assume current attendance zones remain in place, no major disasters or policy changes, and no large, immediate statewide shift out of public schools. He told the board he factored in Census Bureau population estimates, recent housing permitting and developer-reported first-occupancy dates, and four years of historical enrollment patterns to model grade-to-grade cohort movement. The consultant said he geocoded current student addresses to identify where new development is already contributing students to…