By Scott Mitchell Johnson Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — A recent snapshot of SAD 1’s enrollment shows that numbers are up for the first time in five years.
At the Sept. 11 board meeting, Superintendent Gehrig Johnson shared the positive news with directors.
“Our elementary enrollment is up, our kindergarten enrollment is up significantly, and we’ve seen a slight increase at the middle school,” he said. “This is the first time in many years that we’ve seen an increase in enrollment. Is this the beginning of a stabilizing trend? We’ll have to wait and see.”
This time last year, enrollment at Pine Street Elementary School was 329; now it’s 365 for an increase of 36 children. Kindergarten enrollment last September was 121; it is now 148 for an increase of 27 students. Zippel Elementary School, however, is down 14 pupils to 290; Presque Isle Middle School has seen an increase of five students bringing enrollment to 435; while Presque Isle High School’s enrollment has dropped by four students (556). Mapleton Elementary School has seen a decrease of seven children bringing enrollment figures down to 207.
Johnson noted there was concern among some parents back in June when it was announced there would be only one fourth-grade classroom at Mapleton, as opposed to two. At the time, it was projected there would be 27 students in the classroom, and the parents felt that a class size of 27 would disrupt their children’s learning.
As it turns out there are 22 fourth-graders presently enrolled in grade 4 at Mapleton, which according to Johnson, “is in keeping with district-wide class size.”
Also at the meeting, Johnson shared with the board a spreadsheet showing the projected enrollment — based on an average of 1.5 percent decline annually — from the year 2000 through 2012.
“Our enrollment in 2000 was 2,213, and at that time, I projected a 1.5 percent average decline in all of our schools through 2012,” he said. “All these years later, our projected numbers and actual numbers are pretty close.”
For example, in 2010, the projected number of students was 1,902, while the actual figure was 1,904. In 2011, officials projected that enrollment would be 1,873, while the Oct. 1 number was 1,877. Last year, the estimate was 1,845 students, while the actual number was 1,832.
“It’s pretty safe to say we were very close to a 1.5 percent average decline in enrollment during the last decade,” said Johnson.
Using the Sept. 6 enrollment figures — and continuing with the 1.5 percent average decline annually — enrollment projections would continue to drop. In 2015, the projected number of SAD 1 students is 1,798, in 2020 there would be 1,668, and by 2023 the number would drop to 1,592, reflecting a 261-student reduction in the next decade.
“That may or may not be the case,” Johnson said. “It’s just a projection, but history would indicate that we’re looking at less students as we move forward, and that’s going to have implications for facilities, space and staffing needs of the district.”
Enrollment data will again be collected Oct. 1.
The next SAD 1 board meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9 at Mapleton Elementary School.
