Atascadero Unified reports 82-student decline ahead of CALPADS reporting; kindergarten enrollment lowest in eight years

District staff reported a preliminary enrollment decline of 82 students compared with the prior year, prepared Sept. 26 ahead of the district’s CALPADS (California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System) submission. The decline represents a 63-student shortfall versus budget projections.

At the meeting, Mrs. Darnell, who presented the enrollment update, said the district had projected a loss of about 19 students but had instead seen a larger drop across multiple grade transitions, including first to second, second to third, third to fourth, fifth to sixth, seventh to eighth and ninth to tenth.

“We did unfortunately realize a loss of 82 students over prior year,” Mrs. Darnell said. She told trustees the district is working with technical staff to disaggregate exit-code data to understand where students went.

Darnell said preliminary exit data show a majority of departing students enrolled either in California private schools or in other California public schools; she said the district does not have data to assess immigration-related departures.

The district also reported an unusually small incoming kindergarten cohort — the lowest kindergarten enrollment in about eight years. Historically, the district received between 12.2% and 13.7% of San Luis Obispo County births as kindergarten entrants; this year the kindergarten share was about 10.7%. Transitional kindergarten (TK) enrollment was higher than projected but is optional and not compulsory, staff said.

Trustees asked for future reports with disaggregated school-level detail; staff said they would include a middle-school breakdown and refine exit-code analysis in future updates.