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News photo by Steve Schulwitz Elementary school third-grade teacher Ella White Kelly Skiba is reading a book to her students on Wednesday. Alpena schools have seen an increase of more than 200 students from last fall, which means they will receive more revenue from the state.
NAFTA – Preliminary totals show an overall increase in the total number of students enrolled in public schools in northeast Michigan.
School districts conducted their annual fall student tally on Wednesday, which is used to determine the amount of state funding they receive.
A school district receives approximately $ 8,000 per year for each student enrolled. The figures are preliminary as districts have a grace period to count children who may have been absent and missing on Wednesday.
Alpena’s public schools saw their number of students increase by 8%, with a total of 3,780 students enrolled and counted on Wednesday. The preliminary total shows an estimated increase of around 266 children over verified numbers for the 2020-21 school year. The gains make up for the loss of students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Superintendent Dave Rabbideau said that before the pandemic, schools had seen a 1 to 2% drop in annual enrollments. He said having more children in the system is a step in the right direction and that the additional funding will help the school to further improve its educational offer.
“This increase in enrollment, coupled with the increased base allocation per state student and additional federal funding related to pandemic learning, provides us with a tremendous opportunity to bring in a level of resources. new and bred to Alpena public school students, ”he said in a statement. “We are excited to soon announce many significant improvements across the district that will directly benefit students and families at Alpena Public Schools. “
The number of registrations is the highest Alpena has recorded since 2018, said Rabbideau.
In some districts, such as APS, parents have threatened to take their children out of school in protest of mask warrants, but figures seem to indicate that few have done so.
Alcona community schools and Atlanta community schools both had more children than last school year, according to administrators.
Alcona’s student body has grown by 50 students, a total that may change when the final tally is released.
District-wide, there were 710 students counted as of Wednesday.
Alcona Superintendent Dan O’Connor said he felt the number could rise due to the number of homes sold in the county and the number of younger students enrolled to take advantage of the option of e-learning offered to elementary school students.
O’Connor said predicting how the county will go from year to year can be tricky due to the ebb and flow of trends. He said this year’s boost will help schools and their finances move forward.
“The last three years we’ve been going in the wrong direction and it’s a big bump for us,” he said. “We really needed it for the district in the long term and we will do our best to preserve the student body we have.”
Atlanta won six students, bringing the number to 239 students.
Schools in the Rogers City area, community schools in the Onaway area and consolidated schools in Posen have seen their student numbers drop slightly, according to school administrators.
Onaway expects to lose about eight students, Rogers City expects to lose 35 students, and Posen only one student.
Rogers City area school superintendent Nick Hein said a drop in enrollment was not surprising due to the declining population and work climate in Rogers City. He added that count day went well as there were few students directly affected by COVID-19 and most of the student body was ready to be counted.
Hein said things are starting to improve and hopes that progress can be made soon.
“We don’t have that many kids in quarantine and they were able to be in class and we’re happy to have them,” he said. “We should be able to stabilize next year.
Messages left with Hillman Community Schools Superintendent Carl Seiter were not returned.
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