News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sisters schools continue to struggle to build enrollment numbers - the most critical element affecting school funding.
As of April 10, enrollment across Sisters' three schools stood at 1,077.5 students. While that's up from the start of the school year (1,056), it's down by 41 students from the end of the 2015-16 school year, and 31.5 students off of the district's projections.
Since schools are funded on a weighted calculation based on enrollment numbers, fewer students means less money in the coffers. The state this year provides $7,548 per ADM (average daily membership - a number that does not correspond exactly to per-student funding, since some students are counted differently for funding purposes). Coming in 31.5 students below projections means the district will come up short in expected state funding to the tune of roughly $235,000.
Part of the shortfall, according to Superintendent Curt Scholl, is a loss of inter-district transfers (about 15 fewer than projected). The superintendent notes that while Sisters continues to offer small class sizes and innovative programing, there are more education options available than ever across the region, including online education and the Redmond Proficiency Academy, which draw students looking for more educational flexibility and a different learning environment.
Additionally, there were approximately 39 home-schooled students in the district at the beginning of this year.
Scholl believes that students that migrate toward alternatives are "students we should be able to get back."
He believes that the key question in attracting and retaining such students is, "How do we as a small district keep expanding our options for our kids - and what does that look like?"
A more difficult hurdle is the demographics and economics of Sisters. Though the local housing market is healthy, there is a critical dearth of rental housing and the demographics of those moving to the area means that more people does not necessarily correlate to more students.
"Growth is happening," Scholl said. "For us, we get a higher percentage of folks who are retiring instead of families."
The challenge of attracting family-wage jobs to Sisters and the challenge of creating workforce housing that is in the reach of younger families puts downward pressure on enrollment.
"I think those are the two equal challenges that we have," Scholl acknowledged.
Small district size means that the comings and goings of just a few families has a big impact. Scholl noted that one family this year came to Sisters on an extended vacation. They enrolled several children in the district - then pulled them out again when their time in Sisters was done.
That sort of thing also makes projecting enrollment hard to do.
"It's not an exact science," Scholl acknowledged.
And, subsequent to The Nugget's interview with Scholl last week, the district received enrollment paperwork for four new students for next year.
Going into budgeting sessions, the district is pegging enrollment projections for 2017-18 at last February's number of 1,080, which is down from last year's projection of 1,109.
That means tightening the belt, and tightening the belt means reductions in personnel. Scholl reported that the district will "absorb one retirement" and has already notified one teacher that they won't have a position next year.
The district is now awaiting word on where per-student funding is coming in from the State of Oregon for next year. Though the district must complete its budget in June, the actual amount of state funding is not expected from the Oregon legislature until some time in July.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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