Troubling enrollment projections for the 15-16 school year in Christina. Last night at the CBOC meeting we were shown that enrollment counts as of July 21 (an early indicator of what student counts will look like on the first day of school). Historically July 21st counts are off by one or two hundred students in a few specific areas of the district, namely the Wilmington area schools and secondary schools. This year is an outlier in a big way. Enrollment counts are off by about 900 students District-wide and not in the usual areas of low student counts. The low numbers are at all grade levels in the city and in the suburbs. 900 students is a HUGE number and by far eclipses the usual couple hundred. Such low enrollment right now translates in to 78 fewer teaching units. Without students, the State sends no money and the District cannot carry those positions solely on local funding.
So what’s the reason for such a drop in enrollments? We’re not sure. The choice period is closed. We know more students are migrating to charters but definitely not 900.
As far as the budget? The cliffs notes version: District has compiled $9.1 million in reductions which cuts the structural deficiency from $14 million next year to around $3 million. There are major decisions that will need to be made in the next 3 months surrounding what the District needs to look like to get it out of the red. Program elimination, realigning schools, any number of cost saving measures. I’m going to go through the notes I took at last night’s CBOC meeting and try and translate it into some meaningful chunks of info. Lots of vital information shared last night.
By the way, if you have friends, neighbors or family members that have school age kids in the district, please give them a friendly reminder to make sure they are registered with the district! Teaching jobs depend on registration and enrollment!
Those In Favor 