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2016 Fall Enrollment Adjustments for Schools

On Thursday, September 15 board members received an update on fall enrollment projections, with preliminary numbers showing overall K-12 enrollment up to 86,200 – or about 1 percent over last fall. The number does not include ECE students, which are again expected to bring the district’s total student count to more than 90,000.

The state’s official student count date is Oct. 5 this year, when schools across Colorado count students for state funding purposes.The district’s Sept. 8 fall adjustment date is intended to more quickly allow schools to adjust funding based on actual student enrollment, including hiring more teachers to reduce class sizes in schools that have seen increases in the number of students above projected counts. Waiting until the Oct. 5 count likely would mean that schools would be waiting until mid-October for that class size relief, for example.

School leaders receive fall projections from the district each spring and have the flexibility to budget higher or lower if they disagree with those estimates. District staff said more than $1 million has been allocated to schools during the fall adjustment cycle to minimize disruptions to students.

The board’s presentation included enrollment trends among district-managed schools (charter schools do not participate in the district’s September adjustment but are likewise subject to the state’s October count requirements). Among the data presented by the five board member regions:

  • Far Northeast, Northwest and Southeast regions saw increases while Near Northeast and Southwest areas posted declines from fall 2015 to fall 2016.
  • This annual trend holds true over time, with the same three regions growing in enrollment since 2012 while two — Near Northeast and Southwest — have seen losses in overall student numbers during this time.
  • Over the past five years, the Far Northeast region has seen the strongest growth, with nearly 4,000 more students today than in fall 2012. The region is the district’s largest, with nearly 21,600 students. Seven district-managed schools have opened in the Far Northeast during this time.

See the full presentation, including grade-level and school-by-school data.