Charles City schools enrollment drop not expected to result in budget or staff cuts

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City School District enrollment dropped 21 students for the current school year, the district Board of Education learned at its meeting this week.

Superintendent Dr. Anne Lundquist reported on the certified enrollment figure, saying the change “will not likely warrant any major budget cuts.”

The official count, as of Oct. 1, puts the school district at 1,468 students.

Enrollment is down 21 students from the 2022-23 school year, but is less of a drop than the year prior when the district lost 82 students. Based on demographic trends, Lundquist predicts that Charles City will continue to lose about 10 students per year before stabilizing at about 1,400.

One notable data point in this year’s enrollment figure is a change in the ratio between students open enrolling into the district versus students open enrolling out.

Traditionally, the number of students coming in and out of the district has been roughly even, having a generally neutral effect on overall enrollment.

Even when the state Legislature changed the law to eliminate the open enrollment deadline, allowing students to come and go out of the district as they liked, the overall ratio between students coming in and out in Charles City remained the same.

This year, however, open enrollment from other school districts into the Charles City district is at its traditional average of about 50 students, but open enrollment out of the district has increased to about 85.

According to Lundquist, in a follow-up interview, more than half of students that enroll out of the district do so because their families have either moved or because their parent’s job makes it easier for them to attend school elsewhere.

Outside of that, Lundquist says that some parents have said they are leaving the district due to the perception that the school is cutting programming, though she emphasized that, in spite of last year’s high-profile staff reduction, no student programming has been cut in the district.

Another factor noted is Charles City’s graduation requirements, which have higher elective credit requirements than neighboring districts. Efforts are already in the works to mitigate this factor by reducing the number of elective credits needed to graduate.

Lundquist says that the loss of students should not result in any additional staff reductions, as happened last year.

“A change of this magnitude will not likely warrant any major budget cuts,” said Lundquist.

Also at the School Board meeting, the board heard a presentation from elementary teachers Samantha Jacobs, Laura Stallsmith, Carrie Eiklenborg, Megan LaBarge, and Kim Niichel, who recently went to a conference for primary educators in Nashville.

The teachers spent the two day conference attending panels and discussions about early education, from teaching number sense to using motion and repetition to keep kids engaged while learning their letters.

In other business, the board approved the purchase of a 36-passenger AC-equipped lift bus to be used for special education students. Currently, the district leases a vehicle from Nashua and take an additional van when transporting students in hot weather. With the difficulty of finding drivers for two buses and anticipating a need for greater capacity in the future, Director of Operations Jerry Mitchell recommended the purchase of a new bus, presenting a bid for an air-conditioned bus in the amount of $145,571.

The board also approved the purchase of a used 2020 Chevrolet Express from Molstead Motors at a cost of $34,500. Due to a quirk in state law, by purchasing a used van, the school can allow it to be used by drivers with a regular driver’s license rather than special credentials, making used passenger vans highly sought after commodities for districts.

Finally, board member Janiece Bergland, who is nearing the end of her term on the school board and is not seeking re-election, thanked the board for the work that has been put into moving toward the construction of a new performing arts center and expressed her hope that the upcoming bond resolution that will facilitate its construction is passed.

“I’m really hoping that our community sees the future as I do,” said Bergland. “I appreciate everybody that’s been involved in this.”