Sheboygan Area School District reports second-Friday enrollment of 9,319, down four from third-Friday count; board discusses transiency and slide discrepancy

At a Committee of the Whole meeting, district staff reported a second-Friday (January) membership count of 9,319 students, a net decline of four students from the district’s third-Friday (September) count of 9,323.

District staff (identified in the record as Rachel) walked board members through slides comparing third-Friday and second-Friday counts across five years and highlighted that the overall decline over four academic years was 254 students. The staff presentation noted the year-to-year largest decline was 98 students (comparing the previous year to the current second-Friday). Rachel also told the board that when comparing third Friday to second Friday in the same year the district was down only four students this cycle.

Board members asked for additional detail and consistency checks. Multiple trustees recommended comparing like-to-like (second-Friday to second-Friday year over year) for clearer trends; Rachel said the district reports both third-Friday and second-Friday counts to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and that the third-Friday count is the primary number the district uses for year-to-year accountability reporting. Trustees also raised a discrepancy in two slides: one pullover slide showed 9,427 for a third-Friday number while the slide above it contained the correct figure of 9,438. Staff acknowledged the error, said the pullover came from a previous slide set, and committed to look into the inconsistency.

Trustees discussed transiency (student movement between schools and residences) as a factor that can mask larger in-year movement: a school might show a small net change while many students moved in and out during the year. Board members requested transiency data for the district and were told staff can compile that information; staff noted the state tracking system keeps a student’s state ID when a student moves between Wisconsin public schools but records become unavailable if a student transfers out of state. Trustees pointed to a notably lower 4K cohort (559 students this year) as a potential leading indicator of future lower enrollment and referenced other Wisconsin districts (Janesville, Appleton, Green Bay, La Crosse, Wausau, Oshkosh) dealing with larger declines.

The board discussed the importance of watching cohort sizes (for example, the 4K class) and agreed staff should provide additional transiency and cohort analysis at a future meeting. Staff also noted that the district’s Moody’s credit rating reviewers were pleased that local enrollment decline was modest compared with larger urban districts.

The meeting record contains multiple granular figures referenced during discussion: second-Friday 2025 = 9,319; third-Friday 2024 = 9,323; the presentation showed a year-to-year drop of 98 students for one comparison; 4K count = 559. A slide inconsistency showing 9,427 instead of 9,438 for a third-Friday figure was acknowledged by staff and will be corrected.