“Volusia County school officials are cautiously optimistic the worst of an enrollment slide is over that began when the economy started to sour in 2007.
“I’m hopeful it’s bottoming out,” Superintendent Margaret Smith said.
Her comment was based on enrollment figures from last week, the 20th day of classes in the new school year. That’s the benchmark Volusia officials use to compare enrollment from one year to the next although student numbers fluctuate during the year.
Volusia’s enrollment totaled 61,636 students Sept. 19, a decline of 48 students from the same time a year ago. That’s the smallest annual decline since the student count peaked at 65,767 in the fall of 2006.
And it’s much better than the 61,173 students that had been projected for this year.
In Flagler County’s public schools, there were exactly 13,000 students enrolled on the same day. That’s about 100 fewer children than the district planned for in the 2011-2012 budget.
Student counts are important because the district’s state funding is tied to the number of students it serves and the programs in which they’re enrolled. . .
Flagler County has no new charter schools this year, but two of three existing charters gained students this year. Imagine School at Town Center in Palm Coast grew to 808 students, up from 520 at the end of last year. . .”
Article published on Sept. 26, 2011 by the Daytona Beach News-Journal