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Raleigh County reports a drop of roughly 716 students and 10% fall in monthly attendance; board to revisit exam-exemption policy
Summary
District staff told the board the 10th-month enrollment declined by about 716 students versus the prior reporting month, monthly attendance dipped about 10% to 81.1%, home-school counts rose to 943 and principals have asked the board to reconsider the high-school semester-exam exemption to help attendance.
Raleigh County Schools reported notable declines in enrollment and monthly attendance at the board meeting, prompting officials to say they will bring a semester-exam policy change back to the board for consideration.
Superintendent Dr. Starcher and staff told the board the district’s 10th-month enrollment — excluding pre-K — stood at about 9,348 and that the district lost roughly 716 students between reporting months. The presentation cited an enrollment estimate that could place the district under 10,000 students for the coming school year.
Attendance figures also drew concern. Board discussion noted a fall in the 10th-month attendance rate from about 90.6% to 81.1% in the most recent report. District staff said principals have suggested revisiting the high-school semester-exam exemption, which some administrators believe reduces student attendance near the end of term.
Officials also provided counts of school-choice categories: 943 home-school students and 46 homebound students were reported for the month. Board members discussed the difficulty of holding pre-K and virtual-enrollment numbers steady and noted an increase in home-school participation and Hope Scholarship recipients this year.
No binding policy change was adopted at the meeting; the superintendent said the semester-exam exemption will likely be brought back to the board for formal consideration after additional review.
