District enrollment dips 3.2% from October; finance director reports on withdrawals and fiscal position

Director of Finance Jason Hall presented enrollment and financial updates to the McMinnville School District board at the May 12 meeting.

Enrollment and withdrawals

Hall reported the district’s May 1 enrollment at 6,158 students, a 3.2% decrease from the October 1 count. He said kindergarten counts were down by 16 students from the October count and that the largest decrease was at the high school with a reduction of 125 students across grades 9–12; district-wide withdrawal counts showed 49 withdrawals in April. Hall said roughly 67% of April withdrawals were ten‑day drops or moves out of state or country and that he would check with IT to see whether data are available showing how many ten‑day drops reenrolled later in the year.

Financial activity and forecast

Hall reported financial activity through period 9 (March 31): 88% of the district’s revenues had been received and 56% of budgeted expenditures had been spent, consistent with normal fiscal timing (the State School Fund typically supplies two payments in July and the year’s last payment occurs in June). Hall said the district’s largest spending month is June because of the remaining balance of staffing contracts. Board members asked whether the statewide May forecast (to be released May 14) would change the proposed budget; Hall said staff would review the May forecast and update projections if needed but did not anticipate immediate changes to the proposed budget.

Board members asked about local government pool interest rates (Hall said about 4.5% and would verify) and whether comparable districts were seeing similar October-to-year‑end enrollment declines; Hall said he could run comparative data on request. No formal board action was taken; the report was informational.