Eagle County School District enrollment dips slightly from projections while number of at-risk, online students increase

The final numbers for Eagle County School District’s annual count of students are in. Not only does student enrollment have implications on staffing allocations, but it also impacts the amount of funding allocated to the district from the state based on the school finance formula.

According to the final numbers for the 2023-24 school year, Eagle County School District student enrollment for K-12 students came in at 6,497, which is 94 students less than its projections for the year.

The district’s projections are made in the spring during its annual budget approval process.

The final count also beats earlier estimates for the current school year. Early counts from the school district in August 2023 indicated that enrollment was down by 148 to its projections from the spring budget.

While this number is slightly up from enrollment for the 2022-23 school year — which came in at 5,949 — it is more in line with previous years’ numbers. According to the Colorado Department of Education, Eagle County School District reported enrollment of 6,689 students in the 2021-22 school year, 6,699 for 2020-21 and 6,812 for 2019-20.

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This local trend tells a slightly different story than statewide enrollment in public schools. The Colorado Department of Education reported that 2023-24 enrollment reached the lowest mark in a decade this year, dropping 1,800 students from the previous year. The department indicated that public school enrollment in the state has been trending down for three of the past four years — except for the 2021-22 school year.

Budgetary implications

The primary implication of these numbers is to the school district’s budget. On Wednesday, Jan. 24, the Eagle County School District Board of Education will be asked to approve a revised 2023-24 school year budget, which includes updated revenue based on these new numbers.

Each year, Colorado’s School Finance Act — which accounts for over 70% of Eagle County School District’s annual revenue — allocates funding to districts on a per-pupil basis. According to the Jan. 24 presentation, this year the Eagle County School District is receiving $10,661.44 per pupil.

The per-pupil funding from the state is not based on the exact count, but rather on the average count over the past five years. With this average, the district’s budget is anticipated to drop by 14.8 students, or $157,768.49 less in revenue than budgeted.

However, the School Finance Act also provides per-pupil funding for other factors, including “at-risk” students, English-language learners and online students.

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Wednesday’s presentation indicates that the Eagle County School District had more at-risk students than projected and is budgeted for 219.7 additional students in this category. With an allocated per-pupil revenue of $1,279 for at-risk students, Eagle County School District’s revised budget adds $281,078.12 over its original budget for the 2023-24 school year based on this increase.

Additionally, the district is adjusting its budget to account for an increase in online pupils, allocating $77,904 above its initial budget.

While the revised budget accounts for a drop in overall students — as well as a slight drop in the English language learners — the increase in at-risk and online students will show an overall increase in School Finance Act allocations from the original 2023-24 budget.

Staffing changes

These numbers are also used at each school to evaluate staffing ratios. The district only makes adjustments to its staffing for schools that see an increase or reduction of 20 or more students. According to Matt Miano, staffing changes are made “early in the year based on projections, and to the best of our abilities.”

Making them based on the final counts “would be too late in the year” to address student and school needs, Miano added.  

Based on the preliminary counts in August, six schools met this threshold. Avon Elementary, Brush Creek Elementary, Eagle Valley High School, Edwards Elementary and Red Sandstone all were below projections. Battle Mountain High School was above its projections.

While no staffing adjustments will be based on the final counts, the biggest variances in the official numbers were seen at the following schools:

• Battle Mountain High School had 63 more students than projected
• Eagle Valley High School had 45 fewer students than projected
• Avon Elementary School had 33 fewer students than projected
• Edwards Elementary School had 23 fewer students than projected

The revised budget will be discussed at Eagle County School District Board of Education’s regular meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 24. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at Red Canyon High School’s West Campus (395 McGregor Drive, Gypsum). To learn more, visit EagleSchools.net.