Mounds View board gets update on enrollment and facility study; district reports 11,360 students on Oct. 1

Darren Johnson, executive director of school management for the Mounds View Public School District, updated the school board on the district’s enrollment and facility study at the Oct. 7 regular meeting.

Johnson said district staff are completing site visits, updating facility maps and documenting physical conditions at school buildings. The district is preparing grade-level enrollment projections for the next three to five years and compiling enrollment-versus-capacity charts to identify space available for nonresident students enrolled on a space-available basis.

The update included the district’s Oct. 1 headcount: 11,360 students across kindergarten through 12th grade. Johnson said that figure is 95 students higher than the Oct. 1 count for the prior year. He told the board projections will be reviewed and updated regularly as new data from counties, cities and schools becomes available.

Board members and staff discussed how other district efforts — including preschool and kindergarten outreach — intersect with facility planning. A board member thanked Johnson and his team for the work and said enrollment projections will help the district decide where and when to open or close to nonresident students.

Johnson said the final report will outline enrollment trends by site and program, compare those trends with facility capacity and present options related to nonresident enrollment. He said site visits and map updates were scheduled to be completed by October and that staff will compile a final report after those tasks are finished.

The board did not take additional action on the study at the meeting; Johnson invited questions and provided the Oct. 1 count in response to a board member’s query.