By Lynn Kutter
ENTERPRISE-LEADER
Prairie Grove School District is up by 11 students, compared to this time last year, but Farmington and Lincoln school districts are down for the same period, according to enrollment figures from the three districts.
School districts turn in their first official student enrollment reports to the Arkansas Department of Education on Oct. 1.
Prairie Grove's report shows that it had 1,920 students for Oct. 1, compared to 1,909 students on the Oct. 1, 2016, report.
Superintendent Allen Williams said the district was running about the same student enrollment as last year before pulling the Oct. 1 numbers. Then, 10 students immediately enrolled into the district and he had heard of a couple of other families who were planning to move to Prairie Grove and enroll their children.
Williams is a little surprised enrollment numbers are not somewhat higher.
"I thought we'd be up more because of all the building going on in Prairie Grove," Williams said. "I think we're going to be fine. When you look at the building going on, I think we'll be in a steady growth pattern."
The city issued 148 permits for new single-family houses in 2016, the most since 2005. For 2017, Prairie Grove has issued 157 permits for new houses through Oct. 10.
In addition, Prairie Grove has issued permits for 44 duplexes and multi-family units.
Williams said it's possible many of the people moving into Prairie Grove are couples with no children or couples with preschool-age children or retired people.
He fully expects the housing growth in Prairie Grove will bring more students to the school district but is just not sure when it will happen.
"I think we could grow 20 to 30 to 40 students the next few years but it's just a guess," Williams said.
Mary Ann Spears, superintendent of Lincoln Consolidated School District, said the decline in student enrollment can be a concern for a small district.
Lincoln had 1,181 students on its Oct. 1, 2016, report, compared to 1,170 students on this year's report.
"We were down by 11 this year, down by 14 the year before," Spears said. "When you're down 25 kids over two years, it begins to add up. It affects our funding from the state."
Foundation aid from the state is based on student enrollment. For 2017-18, districts are receiving $6,713 per student, based on student enrollment from the previous year.
Spears said Lincoln has been graduating classes with more than 100 students, but some of the elementary classes have student numbers in the 70s and 80s.
"That's quite a difference," she said, adding, "We could get down to 1,100 kids if we don't find a way for new industries and new homes in town."
Farmington School District ended the 2016-17 school year with 2,437 students. Its Oct. 1 enrollment report shows 2,475 students, compared to 2,503 students a year ago, a difference of 28 students.
Farmington's enrollment numbers spiked at the beginning of the 2016-17 year and then enrollment trailed off throughout the rest of the year, said Bryan Law, superintendent.
"I think when we get to the end of the year, our numbers will be up," Law said.
The main reason enrollment is down Oct. 1, compared to last year, is the kindergarten class, Law said.
This year's kindergarten class has 160 students.
"This should be 180 at a minimum," Law said. "It's the hardest one to get a feel for."
Based on sign-ups, the district thought it would have 180 students but then some kids didn't show up.
Farmington has been growing about 40 kids per year for the past five to six years. For 2017-18, Law thinks Farmington will stay steady, instead of growing.
For the past 10 years, Farmington has not had any new residential subdivisions. This is beginning to change and Law said he believes that will affect student enrollment in the future.
Two new single-family subdivisions are going in on Rheas Mill Road and Sellers Road. A housing development off Wedington also could bring in new students to Farmington. The development is in the city of Fayetteville but in the Farmington School District.
General News on 10/18/2017