School enrollment falling short

Enrollment in Sisters School District is falling short of the projected number of students this fall, a decline that would reduce the amount of funding from the state.

Superintendent Curt Scholl said during the September 7 school board meeting that projections called for about 1,109 students districtwide. He emphasized that was a preliminary look because records requests had not been received from students who might be attending a different district this fall.

However, the picture became more clear in an interview on Wednesday, September 14, when Scholl said enrollment is down by 30 students. If that holds, the district would lose about $7,000 in funding for each of the 30 children, although the exact amount depends on factors unknown at this time.

"It depends on the entire number of students in the state and a lot of variables," Scholl said. "Potentially (the revenue loss) could be a couple hundred thousand dollars or more. Losing kids doesn't help us, but it's hard to know right now what the effect will be."

He said it's too soon to predict whether staff reductions will have to be made. The Sisters district's enrollment level will continue to fluctuate, even throughout the school year, he added.

Scholl noted during the school board meeting that 11 students were coming to classes from their families' campsites in the woods. That's because of a lack of local housing, he said.

The children are still camping, Scholl said last week. It wasn't revealed how many families are involved or what grades the students are attending.

"I don't know the 11," Scholl said, "but those are our homeless numbers. It is a housing issue. If we had affordable housing we wouldn't be seeing what we are seeing. In talking to local realtors, there's just a shortage of inventory."

Scholl believes some families who move and take children to another school district do so because of housing problems here. He noted the Sisters City Council recently approved $300,000 for affordable housing in Sisters.

"I am optimistic," Scholl said. "The City has put money forward, and it's just something that will take time."

The superintendent said he and his wife ran into the housing problem themselves when trying to move here a year ago for Scholl's first year with the district. He called it a "competitive" market with six other potential buyers vying for the house he eventually purchased.

On another topic, Scholl said he expects the volunteer members of the Bond Facilities Oversight Committee to be announced during the October 5 school board meeting. Five Sisters residents will be chosen to monitor how money from the Sisters School Bond is spent, with terms possibly lasting up to three years, Scholl said.

He anticipates the school board will name an architect for bond construction projects during the November meeting.

"Then we'll get moving forward," Scholl said.