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Sioux Falls initial fall enrollment shows slight decline; junior kindergarten up
Summary
District data showed a preliminary fall enrollment of 224,290 FTE (down 86 from last year at the same point), kindergarten down, junior kindergarten up; board acknowledged the initial report and staff warned final counts and funding reconciliation remain pending.
The Sioux Falls School District on Tuesday reported preliminary fall 2025 enrollment figures that district staff said will inform budget planning but are not yet final for state funding.
Doug Morrison, the district’s director of data services, told the Board of Education the initial count at the end of the fourth business day of school was 224,290 full‑time equivalent (FTE) students, 86 fewer than the same point last year. He said kindergarten enrollment stood at 1,731 — 46 fewer than the prior year at the same checkpoint — while junior kindergarten enrollment rose to 79, an increase of 38.
Morrison described the report as a day‑4 snapshot that traditionally moves as families enroll, transfer or do not show up in the first weeks. He said the district was monitoring about 177 students who had not attended school by day 4; state reconciliation rules require the district to wait until students miss 15 consecutive days before removing them from the active roster for state reporting.
Staff noted that structural changes, including boundary shifts tied to the new Marcel Labeaux school and the closure of the elementary immersion program, drove some localized declines. Morrison said Marcel Labeaux opened with a preliminary enrollment of about 284 students and absorbed students from Hawthorne, Rhenberg and Hayward.
Board members asked about cohort trends and the role of birth rates in projecting kindergarten cohorts years in advance. A board member identified as Todd (district staff) said longer-term birth-rate declines have contributed to smaller incoming kindergarten classes over several years, though there was a localized recent uptick in some months.
Morrison said the district will submit final counts to the state on September 26 for reconciliation and expects to return to the board with a final enrollment report on Oct. 27. The board acknowledged the initial enrollment report by motion and voice vote; the transcript did not record a roll-call tally.
Staff cautioned that open enrollment continues year-round, and the day‑4 snapshot typically declines modestly before the final state count.
