As expected, enrollment numbers were down in USD 251 and 252 for the 2008-09 school year.
USD 251 The district includes three K-8 buildings — Admire, Americus and Reading — and Northern Heights High School at Allen. The district was down 31 kids at Thursday’s head count, said District Superintendent Steve Mollach.
The numbers this year are as follows:
Americus: 167, down from 175 last year
Admire: 105, down from 122 last year
Reading: 70, up from 65 last year
Northern Heights: 180, down from 196 last year
Mollach said Admire was down a bit more than anticipated.
“Admire was a little bit of a surprise,” he said. “I did anticipate Heights because we were trading off a very small freshman class coming in.”
Mollach said rising fuel prices are partly to blame for the drop in students as are other factors.
“We’ve had some families that have moved closer to their jobs because of the fuel costs,” He said. “Tyson played a small part. We just have a small kindergarten class this year so our numbers are down.”
Southern Lyon County is down a little more than 20 students, said District Superintendent Mike Argabright. Southern Lyon County includes Neosho Rapids Elementary School, Neosho Rapids/Hartford Junior-Senior High; Olpe Elementary and Olpe Junior-Senior High School.
This year, the enrollment at Hartford Junior High is 127; Neosho Rapids early start-sixth grade is 115; the combined total for Olpe Elementary and Olpe-Junior-Senior High is 295.
“We knew we would be down a little over 20 due to graduation versus kindergarten students coming up,” he said. “I think the Tyson cuts affected some and the general economy with students traveling.”