Charles City enrollment remains stable for first time since 2014

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

For the first time in several years, it looks like enrollment in the Charles City School District will remain steady.

“I’m convinced we can stabilize our enrollment, even though we’ve had some data that might indicate otherwise,” Superintendent Mike Fisher told the Charles City Board of Education at its regular meeting Monday.

School districts across the state are required to tabulate their respective enrollment numbers as of Oct. 1 and certify these totals with the Iowa Department of Education prior to Oct. 15. Fisher told the board that this year’s tabulations put the district at about 1,504 students.

That’s an increase of about two students from last year. Fisher told the board he thought the enrollment a year ago was 1,500, but the enrollment number last year was actually just under 1,502. The numbers in this article are rounded to the nearest whole number. Fractions in students come from how the Iowa Department of Education weighs students who take part in the district’s homeschool assistance program, dual-enrolled students, or students enrolled in both homeschool assistance and dual-enrolled programs.

“For us, with declining enrollment the last four years, that’s huge,” Fisher said of the slight uptick. That means that he and Business Manager Terri O’Brien are facing a positive budget outlook, he said, “Which is also huge.”

Enrollment numbers in the school district have declined by about 88 students over the last four years. The last time the district saw an increase in enrollment was the 2013-14 school year.

Fisher stressed that the current enrollment numbers are preliminary until all student information is verified and weightings calculated. The certified enrollment is an annual report of enrolled resident students used for the Iowa School Finance Formula calculation. The certified enrollment count is taken on the first day of October every year.

“We did counts the last two weeks literally every day,” Fisher told the board. “We also offered a new pilot program — virtual online learning — which is something we had in the district, and now we have the option to do that at home.”

Fisher said there were seven kids enrolled in that program.

“Those students count as one certified, which is great,” he said.

Student enrollment numbers directly affect the amount of money school districts receive from the state government. Iowa schools are funded on a per pupil basis. The enrollment totals submitted will determine the general fund and sales tax funding the district will receive. The more students in a district, the more money a district gets. The district also gets supplemental weighting for some of the courses that are taught. In 2017-18, the state per pupil cost was $6,591.

Over the last 10 years, Charles City has averaged a decline of approximately 11 students per year. Enrollment numbers dropped by nearly 40 students in 2009-10 and by more than 47 students in 2014-15. In the 2012-13 school year, the enrollment number increased by more than 30 students.

Fisher said that without the work of the principals and secretarial staff, the enrollment number this year would likely have been about 1,485.

“I pushed very hard with our principals and our secretary staff to monitor enrollment and do what we can,” he said. “We’ve made a tremendous amount of home visits. Our home school assistance made a lot of home visits, keeping people engaged.”

Fisher told the board that the administration was very successful at convincing people to stay in the district.

“I can tell you that there were a number of people who thought about open enrollment. We talked about it, and they decided to stay,” he said.

Fisher said the district is working hard to get an idea of what enrollment will look like in future years by researching the number of kids in Charles City who will be entering kindergarten in each of those years.

In other business Monday, the board:

— Accepted the personnel appointment of Melina Mena Davis, high school annual advisor, for the amount $2331, effective Sept. 24.

— Accepted the personnel appointment of Phillip Frenchik, middle school assistant drama, in the amount of $999, effective Oct. 18.

— Accepted personnel appointments of Melanie Johanningmeier ($100), Renae Boss ($100), Jacob Gassman ($100), Janeice Bergland ($500), Bethany Rhine ($600) and Tricia Baxter ($600) for various musical positions and set design for the high school musical, effective Oct. 8.

— Accepted the support staff transfer of Ammie Jopslin, middle school instructional assistant, to Lincoln Elementary.

— Accepted teacher contract financial increases due to additional graduate course work for the following teachers (amount of increase): Marie Conklin ($3601), Caleb Davidson ($1801), Rebecca Mead ($1801), Phillip Frenchik ($1801), Scotti Hagensick ($1801), Jenn Hardy ($1801), Julie Holub ($3241), Erin Lyman ($3241), Phoebe Pittman ($1800), Jennifer Seehusen ($1801), LeAnn Smith ($1800), David Voves ($1801), Laura Walker ($1801).

Charles City School District Annual Enrollment Numbers

(Rounded to nearest whole number)

School Year Enrollment Change

2008-09 1,594 -21

2009-10 1,554 -40

2010-11 1,546 -8

2011-12 1,549 +3

2012-13 1,580 +31

2013-14 1,589 +9

2014-15 1,542 -47

2015-16 1,531 -11

2016-17 1,513 -19

2017-18 1,502 -11

2018-19* 1,504 +2

*Unofficial