The first of two official school count days for the 2014-2015 school year was held on Friday, September 12. The official count day is on the 2nd Friday after Labor Day each year. On that designated day each year, schools must submit their documented enrollments to the state. Enrollments are one of the factors used to determine the amount of state funding that they will receive. A second count day will be in February 2015.
The figures forwarded to the state from the September count days will be crosschecked to help assure that students are not enrolled in more than one school or educational program. Once verified, the state will use the enrollment figures in a formula to determine the amount of funding per student. Kindergarten students are only counted at a half rate; however those schools with full time kindergarten programs can receive a stipend for offering full day programs.
The Plymouth Community Schools continue to have the largest enrollment coming in this fall at 3,737 students. According to Superintendent Daniel Tyree, that reflects an increase of 31 students over the number gathered in September last year. The schools have seen a gradual increase in enrollment due , in part, to accepting students at no tuition charge from out of district over the last few years.
Donna Burroughs, superintendent of Triton Schools, said their enrollment is down by 30 over the last school year. She said the 935 that they are showing enrolled includes 80 students from other districts. Students are allowed to attend schools out of the district where they would attend by their address if the school system that they apply to accepts them.
Union-North’s enrollment data shows a total of 1,121 students. This number includes 12 students from the John-Glenn district who attend LaVille Jr.-Sr. High School for educational purposes. The largest decrease from the last school year was at LaVille Elementary. They have an overall decrease of 31 students. There was an increase by 7 students at LaVille Jr.-Sr. High School.
Chuck Kitchell, director of operations of the Culver Community Schools, said they have some 853 students, but the ADM count is 822.61 when the number of kindergarten students is factored into the total. Last school year, the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) listed the district’s enrollment at 881.
Kitchell said they are pleased to announce that Culver High School was just named a Four Star School. He said, “This is a credit to the hard work of students, parents, teachers, and everyone associated with CCSC.” He added “We would like students to know that we are eager to accept out of district students. We will work with parents on transportation as much as possible.”
John-Glenn reported an enrollment of 1,860 students with an ADM of
1,783. John Glenn is just one of the school districts in the county that does not charge tuition for out of district students. IDOE showed a total of 1,871 for the 2013-2014 school year.
The Interim Superintendent, Russ Mikel, from Argos schools could not be reached for comment. Last year, the IDOE showed an enrollment of 614 for the schools. Bremen Schools are still in the process of submitting their data for the current year. In the 2013-2014 school year, the IDOE shows an enrollment of 1,477.
Carol Anders Correspondent
