LPOSD sees enrollment trend upward
(Photo courtesy KELLI KNOWLES/Kootenai Elementary) Kids enjoy recess at Kootenai Elementary Thursday. As the 2017 school year commenced last week, the school saw a 22-student increase over last year — one of the largest increases in the district, just behind Sandpoint High School.
(Photo courtesy KELLI KNOWLES/Kootenai Elementary) Kids enjoy recess at Kootenai Elementary Thursday. As the 2017 school year commenced last week, the school saw a 22-student increase over last year — one of the largest increases in the district, just behind Sandpoint High School.
PONDERAY — The more things change, the more they stay the same — as far as the Lake Pend Oreille School District's enrollment is concerned, anyway.
In 2013, enrollment across Lake Pend Oreille School District's 11 schools was 3,620. The next year, with the closing of Coldwater Creek, enrollment fell by nearly 100 students. The numbers rose slightly over the next couple years, but LPOSD attendance was still low.
"We are currently at identical numbers as we were in 2013," said LPOSD Superintendent Shawn Woodward. "... Oddly enough, we are right at 3,620."
Woodward presented the last seven years of enrollment numbers during Tuesday's LPOSD meeting. The data was collected on the third day each year. Woodward said there is typically a "swing" in the first week of school of anywhere from 10 to 30 students.
Enrollment is about 30 students more than the district's projected numbers for 2017. If enrollment holds through the first nine weeks of school, the district would be eligible to receive an additional $200,000 in state funding, said Lisa Hals, the district's chief financial and operations officer.
The numbers Woodward presented for 2016 and 2017 also do not reflect the district's Homeschool Academy. Last year, HSA opened its inaugural school year with 16 students. This year, enrollment is around 65.
"Last year we started pretty light, but it continued to grow throughout the year," Woodward said. "... That's a testament to Melinda Rossman, our instructor in that program, is just dynamite."
All of the high schools in the district, including Sandpoint High School, Clark Fork High School, and Lake Pend Oreille High School saw an increase in attendance, if only slight. CFHS has seen a 42-percent increase since 2014, when 88 students were enrolled on day three. In 2017, the school is up to 125 students, which Woodward attributed to the success of the school's learning track program.
SHS had a 34-student increase, and Kootenai Elementary had the second-largest increase in attendance, going from 400 students in 2016 to 422 students in 2017. Sandpoint Middle School came in third with a 15-student increase.
Many of the outlying schools in the district, however, saw a decrease in attendance since last year, including Hope, Sagle and Northside elementaries.
"We are going to do a little work around trying to identify where those students have gone," Woodward said. "Do they live in our community and are they going to Lakeland, or are we having fewer families move out into those areas? It's very hard to tell, but we can do a little research."
Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.