Superintendent: LCSD #1 enrollment down; district must 'right-size' staff
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Newton reported the district's Oct. 1 enrollment snapshot at 12,859 (down 367 from prior Oct. 1) and described enrollment churn, kindergarten cohort declines, and implications for staff reductions and rightsizing.
Superintendent Dr. Newton presented the district’s enrollment snapshot and cautioned that enrollment data are a volatile "snapshot." He reported the official Oct. 1 count showed 12,859 students — a decrease of 367 from the prior Oct. 1 snapshot — and said the current net decline was roughly 400+ students at the time of the meeting.
Dr. Newton detailed patterns behind the net loss: kindergarten cohort shrinkage (about 69 fewer kindergarten students at the Oct. 1 snapshot), substantial churn from students who leave and re-enroll multiple times during the school year, and a growing fraction of families homeschooling without formal notification to the district. He said roughly 250 new students had enrolled this year while hundreds left; 188 students left and returned more than once and 50 left more than three times, demonstrating the complexity of the data.
The superintendent warned that the district’s funding is tied to enrollment and that the board must plan to "right-size" staffing. He noted the district collapsed 31 positions last year and will continue to look for appropriate position consolidations rather than layoffs when possible. He said planning for registration for the next year would begin as early as late January and that administration would return with options for staffing given current enrollment trends.
Board members asked clarifying questions about where students are going (out of state, within state transfers, homeschooling reports) and expressed concern about the operational and budget impact of sustained enrollment declines.
