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School superintendent warns of enrollment decline, Tomahawk overcrowding and highlights STEM Plus pilot
Summary
Dr. Stanley told supervisors and the school board that the division lost roughly 400 students over the past decade, is piloting an eighth‑grade STEM Plus trades program funded by a DoD grant, and faces capacity and special‑education pressures at Tomahawk Elementary.
Dr. Stanley presented the Campbell County school division’s academic and operational picture to a joint meeting of the county supervisors and school board, saying all schools remain fully accredited even as enrollment has fallen and particular schools face capacity strains.
The superintendent said the division lost roughly 400 students over the last nine to ten years and cited two main drivers: declining birth rates and a rise in homeschooling, which the presentation placed at about 835 children (an increase of about 150 in the last year). He said those enrollment shifts reduce Average Daily Membership (ADM) and directly affect state funding formulas.
Dr. Stanley called out Tomahawk Elementary as the only building that has grown; the school now enrolls about 700 students and is operating near or at program capacity (the presentation noted program capacity ~90% and classroom-level utilization approaching 94–95%). He also said the special-education population at Tomahawk has roughly doubled since 2016 and that English‑learner enrollment has grown similarly, placing additional staffing and space pressure on that school.
To address workforce needs and broaden pathways for students, Dr. Stanley described STEM Plus, an eighth‑grade, hands‑on skilled‑trades lab installed in each middle school via a Department of Defense grant and a partnership with a company identified as DES. "We're the first school division in this nation to pilot this program," he said, noting each STEM lab the presenter described costs about $600,000 and was provided to the division at no cost.
Board members and supervisors discussed options including limited redistricting to move students out of Tomahawk into schools with spare capacity and regional approaches to expand career and technical education (CTE). Staff and supervisors said the county and superintendent’s offices have begun quarterly coordination on subdivision and residential permit tracking to better forecast where future students will come from.
Dr. Stanley also outlined near‑term budget implications: projected ADM declines (state figures put ADM down about 175 for the current year with an additional projected drop next year), an LCI (local composite index) increase that raises local ability‑to‑pay and creates roughly a $4 million hole, and an estimated $3 million in additional state aid that partly offsets that shortfall. He told the joint meeting the division is planning to add several special‑education aides and one adaptive classroom and requested an additional administrative assistant at Tomahawk to address growing at‑risk needs.
The conversation ended with supervisors and the school board agreeing to continue coordination on enrollment forecasting and to consider potential planning and facilities steps as construction projects wind down.
