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District reports close-to-flat enrollment overall; kindergarten at Minooka Elementary down significantly
Summary
District administrators reported a small year-over-year enrollment decline districtwide but growth in cohorts; Minooka Elementary School kindergarten enrollment is down notably and district staff are pursuing outreach. Tech rollout and transportation routing updates were also delivered.
District administrators reported detailed enrollment and staffing information for the coming year and provided updates on technology and transportation preparations.
Dr. Massey presented school-by-school enrollment comparisons to the same point last year. Districtwide K—8 enrollment was 4,009 at this point last year versus 3,945 now, a net difference of 64 students; including pre-K the totals were 4,208 last year and 4,155 this year (difference 53). Dr. Massey said the decline is concentrated at Minooka Elementary School (MES), where current kindergarten registration was 63 compared with 92 at the same moment last year, a shortfall she described as "a class and a half." Dr. Massey said MES historically gets a late surge of registrations and the district is executing targeted outreach (phone calls, reminders and planned kindergarten outreach events) to capture students who have not yet registered. The administration reported 309 families had not yet registered as of the meeting date.
Administrators said cohort growth remains positive in several grades, meaning the district sees larger enrolled cohorts moving through the system even while overall headcount dips because of prior larger graduating cohorts. The board and administration flagged new residential development in parts of the district (near Jones, Shorewood and other areas) as a factor to monitor.
Technology and operations updates: Director of Technology Mr. Souza said Chromebook orders placed in April are arriving now; first-grade devices were ready and some second-grade shipments were arriving immediately, while a large fifth-grade shipment was still expected the following week. The tech team will inventory, image and label devices in the weeks before school, and has other summer projects such as cafeteria projector installations. The district reported roughly 15% of parents have adopted the ParentSquare communications platform; staff plan teacher training and parent communications to expand that adoption.
Transportation: district leaders said routing work is being finalized in partnership with the receiving high-school district (Minooka Community High School District 111) and that route assignments will be published in PowerSchool in the weeks before school. Superintendent Kinder reiterated teacher institute and student start dates: teacher institute is Monday, Aug. 11, and the first day of school is Wednesday, Aug. 13.
No board action was taken; administrators said they will return with updated enrollment figures at a future meeting.
