The Washoe County School District Board of Trustees was going to discuss how a drop in student enrollment this year is impacting the district's operating budget, but the item has since been postponed to gather more information.
The district counts enrollment during the first four weeks of the school year. Each year they estimate their budget based on expected enrollment, affecting their finances and how they staff schools.
In the 2021-2022 school year the district saw an increase of 680 students enrolling, which brought them over 62,000 students. A small increase... however, before the start of COVID-19, they had 64,000 students.
This year, the district's total enrollment dropped again. It's now just over 61,000. That's down 995 students.
That drop of 995 students is costly to the district because the funding it receives per student is over $7,300. Which means, in all, the district is short nearly $7.3 million in its budget.
This decrease in enrollment impacts staffing overall, the board is looking at a possible reduction of 20 teacher positions, shifting of teachers from one grade to another or moving them to a different school site.
Students could also be moved or placed with new teachers for the remainder of the school year to help balance out classrooms.
