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District enrollment dips; board OKs hiring RSP for boundary study and projections
Summary
Superintendent and enrollment director reported a 185-student decline for 2025–26, with kindergarten down and roughly 71 students out-migrating; the board moved to extend RSP & Associates for three-year projections and a districtwide boundary study costing $10,000 plus optional $5,000 community events.
Gardner Edgerton USD 231 officials told the school board on Nov. 10 that the district’s 2025–26 headcount is down 185 students and outlined plans to contract an outside firm to produce updated enrollment projections and a comprehensive boundary study.
Dr. Marshall presented the figures, saying the district has 344 kindergarten students compared with 454 graduating seniors, and that about 71 students were recorded as out-migrating since last year. He also noted a specific local displacement — 26 students tied to an Aspen Place relocation footnote in the district spreadsheet — but said that was not the primary driver of the overall decline.
"The 2025–26 school year unofficial headcount enrollment is down by 185 students," Dr. Marshall said at the meeting, and he warned trustees that state funding is largely enrollment-dependent.
To address shifting enrollments and prepare for a new elementary scheduled to open in August 2027, Dr. Marshall recommended extending the district’s agreement with RSP & Associates for three years of enrollment projections and adding a districtwide boundary study. He said the boundary-analysis base cost is $10,000 and RSP’s attendance at work groups or community forums is proposed at $5,000 per event, at the board leadership’s discretion.
Board members asked for more detail about whether class-size increases were prompting families to leave; Dr. Marshall said elementary averages were essentially unchanged, that middle-school averages had slipped below 22, and that the district planned follow-up surveys to determine why families disenrolled.
The board recorded a motion and second to approve the RSP extension and boundary study work agreement; the transcript shows the motion and second on the record but does not include a roll-call tally in the minutes provided.
Next steps: The boundary study process is scheduled to begin in early 2026 and conclude with board-approved recommendations in January or February 2027, before the new elementary opens in August 2027. The board may choose additional RSP support for public engagement at $5,000 per event.
