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