More students are attending school in the Española School District than last year according to numbers officials submitted to state regulators.
The District’s enrollment totals for the Oct. 12 40-day count shows that there are 236 more students going to school in the Española Public Schools than last year. The increase brings this year’s total to 4,051 compared to last year’s 3,815 and 3,813 during School Year 2013-14.
According to a District enrollment report, Abiquiú Elementary School has 146 students, Alcalde Elementary has 229 students, Chimayó Elementary has 144 students, Dixon Elementary has 60 students, Fairview Elementary has 376 students, Hernandez Elementary has 157 students, Española Elementary has 442 students, Los Niños Kindergarten Center has 142 students, San Juan Elementary has 352 students, Sombrillo Elementary has 240 students, Velarde Elementary has 77 students, Española Valley High School has 994 students and Española Middle School has 529 students.
While most of the schools across the District saw there enrollment increase, three schools had fewer students than last year.
Of the increases, Abiquiú Elementary, the District’s only A school had the largest gain. Twenty-nine more students enrolled in the school, which is a 25-percent increase from the 117 students enrolled on the 40th day last year.
The biggest decrease belongs to Sombrillo. The school’s student population dropped about 17 percent from last year’s 288 students.
School districts across the state compile the 40-day count and submit the information to state regulators who use the data to determine how much money the school receives from the state. The state’s 89 school districts are funded through the State Equalization Guarantee, a funding formula designed to ensure students have across-the-board access to a quality education.
State regulators take the base enrollment, from the 40-day count and multiply by the number of students in each grade and factor in several other components, such as the number of students in a particular grade and the number of English language learners a district has to determine a District’s total funding formula.
Neither Española School District Superintendent Eric Martinez nor Associate Superintendent Myra Martinez returned telephone calls to discuss the numbers or answer any other questions that will help to inform parents about their child’s education.
While the 40-day numbers are significant within themselves, the Department also uses those figures along with the numbers compiled at the 80th and 120th day to determine the a district’s transportation funding.
The District’s former charter, Cariños Charter School, saw a slight drop in students for their 40-day census count. It is unclear if McCurdy Charter School and the Mesa Vista and Chama school districts enrollment figures are up or down because officials at McCurdy and the other two districts have not responded to a requests for the K-12 charter school’s 40-day figures.
Cariños Charter officials recorded 102 students on the school’s 40th day compared to the 110 students they had enrolled at the school during the Fall 2015.
Cariños officials attribute the declining enrollment numbers to the school’s difficulty during the last couple of years to find a stable facility to call home.
(Editor’s note: Superintendent Eric Martinez would not answer the following questions:
How much does the District receive for each student?
What is the difference between inactive and active students?
Are inactive student included in the District’s 40-day totals?)