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Trustees hear enrollment dip; superintendent flags state homeschooling outreach
Summary
Superintendent reported the district dropped from 1,244 to 1,227 students and told trustees the Office of Public Instruction is contacting homeschool families, which may be causing enrollment churn that could reduce district funding.
The Sidney H S Board of Trustees Committee was told the district’s student count fell this month by 17 students, and administrators warned a state push to enroll homeschool families could deepen the decline.
Superintendent (name and title as reported in the administrative section) told trustees, “We went from 1,244 students last month down to 1,227 for this month,” and said six students accounted for one family leaving the district and another three came from a second family. The superintendent added that the Office of Public Instruction (OPI) has been encouraging homeschooling families to apply for enrollment, then subsequently unenroll ‘‘so they qualify the next year,’’ a pattern the district expects would have a negative fiscal impact.
Rep.-elect Morgan Teal, who introduced herself earlier in the meeting as the representative-elect for House District 30 in Helena, corroborated recent outreach efforts: “I just did a webinar on that, and it’s like the state is super excited to get this pushed out to people … and so they can get, like, $8,400 a year,” she said, characterizing the state’s promotion as aggressive and urging trustees to watch related legislation.
Why it matters: local enrollment counts drive state funding and district planning; even small shifts concentrated in a few families can affect staffing, special-education allocations and budget projections. The superintendent said the district will monitor the situation and suggested trustees may want to discuss the issue with legislators during the session.
What trustees said and next steps: trustees were told the superintendent has spoken with staff and will keep the board updated. The superintendent recommended tracking enrollment impacts and suggested trustees might contact Rep.-elect Teal with legislative questions about how OPI’s outreach is being implemented.
The board did not take formal action on policy regarding OPI outreach at the meeting; the superintendent said the item will be monitored and brought forward if needed.
