Each October, and again in April, school districts in Maine must report their enrollment figures to the state so that those numbers can be used to determine how much money each will receive in the form of general purpose aid for education.
Mike Hammer, RSU 50 interim-superintendent for Southern Aroostook Community School and Katahdin Middle-High School, said he has a lot of concerns with enrollment figures and projects for his district.
“When we lose students we lose money,” Hammer said.
There are 678 students enrolled in classes in RSU 50. There are 342 in the Katahdin system and 335 at SACS. Projections for RSU 50 show further decline for both school systems is likely, Hammer added.
Hammer said RSU 29 should be in good shape, as that district gets a lot of students from SAD 70 and RSU 50 through superintendent agreements. These agreements allow a student to attend a school outside of the district they reside in.
“If we didn’t approve of so many superintendent agreements it would be different,” Hammer said. “Scott should have concerns but I’m not sure where he stands right now. It will be interesting to see how much we lost in revenue from the state when the next ED 279 comes out.”
Students are counted in the enrollment figures at the school they attend, he explained. Therefore any students from SAD 70 or RSU 50 that attend school in RSU 29 are not counted in their respective districts in terms of calculating state aid.
Hammer, who served as the RSU 29 superintendent from June 21, 2011 to June 30, 2015, said it was hard to put an exact number on how many students should be attending classes in RSU 50, but have chosen to go elsewhere because it fluctuates throughout the year.
“In the past we would deny these requests due to wanting the money,” Hammer explained. “We now know that the commissioner will overturn our decisions, therefore we all agree.”
For RSU 29, however, enrollment has stayed fairly consistent over the last few years. The district has actually gained students since a low of 1,280 in 2009-10 school year.
“Obviously a loss in enrollment does impact our subsidy,” RSU 29 Superintendent Ellen Schneider explained. “The April count and the October count are averaged as a part in determining our subsidy from the state. There are many districts in the county who are experiencing decreases in enrollment that are averaging 50 or more students per year. That has an impact.”
RSU 29’s enrollment has remained somewhat stable over the past five years. The district currently has 1,333 students, its highest total in recent years. A look back at the district’s totals for the past six years reveals a fairly stable enrollment: 2014, 1,322 students; 2013, 1,326 students; 2012, 1,294 students; 2011, 1,289 students; 2010, 1,304 students; and 2009, 1,280 students.
“I think there are several reasons (for the district’s stability),” Schneider said. “Our population seems a bit less transient than I have seen in other districts. Plus I think we have gained students as they have increased border patrol in this area.”
RSU 29 tends to gain more students than it loses with superintendents’ agreements. Currently there are 45 students who are residents in RSU 29 but attend schools outside the district. However, the district receives 87 students who live outside the district.
By comparison, in 2011 there were 31 RSU 29 students attending school outside of the district and 45 coming into the district.
For SAD 70, declining enrollment has been a big concern for members of the district’s school board as the group is weighing its options on spending money to update an aging high school building.
“Obviously the trend is smaller enrollment each year but it is a slower trend than in some other districts,” SAD 70 Superintendent Scott Richardson said. “The loss of students obviously affects state subsidy which is at least partly built on the number of students that are enrolled that count for subsidy. SAD 70 is always looking at enrollment and how it impacts subsidy and the budget.”
Over the past nine years, enrollment in SAD 70 has declined steadily from 526 students in 2006-07 to 484 students this year. A breakdown of enrollment figures shows: 525 students (2007-08); 507 (2008-09); 513 (2009-10); 509 (2010-11); 506 (2011-12); 500 (2012-13); and 490 (2013-14).
Projections for SAD 70 show these numbers continuing downward over the next four years.
SAD 14 (Danforth) Superintendent Terry Comeau said his district has been able to hold steady for the past few years, due largely to the fact that it is so small.
There are 147 students attending classes in grades pre-K-12 at East Grand School. That number includes 35 tuition students from areas such as Bancroft, Forest City and Reed, that are not part of a school district. There are only two students involved in superintendent’s agreements, Comeau added, and those are two students who are coming into the district.
“The individual grade levels fluctuate up and down, but overall we have held steady,” he said.
