The New Mexico Public Education Department’s deadline to report enrollment numbers has just passed and Española School District administrators said 3,916 students are enrolled in their schools, this is an increase of 104 form this time last year.
This could potentially generate additional revenue for the District.
During his report to Board members at the Oct. 8 meeting, Superintendent Danny Trujillo provided a PowerPoint presentation describing the enrollment statistics for the District.
“I am pleased to report that we just sent our report to the Public Education Department and we have raised our student enrollment from this time last year,” Trujillo said.
The 40th day enrollment is significant because enrollment figures on that day impact school funding. The Public Education Department provides funding to districts and charter schools based on the number of students who are enrolled – the higher the enrollment, the higher the revenue.
According to the facilities master plan presentation, each student adds a little more than $7,200 on average, to a school’s operational budget. The District’s population increase adds a little less than $750,000 to the District’s coffers, money that will become part of next year’s operational budget.
This year’s enrollment reversed a trend that has been taking place in the District for a number of years. According to the facilities master plan, enrollment has declined by more than 1,200 students since 2004.
The 1,200-student enrollment decline cost the District more than $8.5 million, which the District could have used to provide additional programs for its students.
While District enrollment has increased by 104 overall, there are some schools that have experienced declines. Velarde Elementary went from more than 150 students two years ago, to less than 80 students this academic year.
The Los Niños Kindergarten Center has also suffered declines. Trujillo estimated approximately 200 preschool and kindergarten students would enroll, but that number dwindled to about 90 students.
However, not everyone agrees with Trujillo’s numbers. Critics argued numbers could be inflated because some students do not truly belong to the District, but to the charter school.
“There are parents who enrolled their students in District schools,” Cariños Administrator Liz Lucero said. “But they told me that once the school has found a permanent place, they will return.”
Lucero is referring to 50 students who transferred into the District and if her prediction is correct, Trujillo overestimated overall enrollment by 54 students.
However, since they were part of the District on the 40th day, Trujillo said he is able to count their attendance toward the District’s numbers.
The District is not the only one to experience declines. Cariños’ enrollment numbers have dwindled as well. It went from 200 students, to 130. Administrators said the recent legal battle with the District has forced many parents to enroll their children elsewhere.
Even McCurdy Charter School is not at capacity. McCurdy Director Janette Archuleta said the school could accommodate approximately 50 more students than it currently has.