Our October student count is nearly 500 students above projections; however, the total number of students enrolled remains about the same as last year.
Next month's student count may fluctuate up or down as we begin capturing attendance digitally and finalize paper enrollments submitted during the network outage.
October is historically our highest month for enrollment numbers. We expect enrollment to shrink as the year progresses.
This is the first year since 2018 that enrollment has not decreased. We will work with our demographer over the next serval months to determine what to expect next school year.
Enrollment projections are a big part of our budget development process. State funding is based on our student count. School districts in Washington state, including Highline, are experiencing rising costs for salaries, utilities, insurance and other necessary expenditures.
The community will be invited to a School Board Work Session about the budget development process sometime this fall. Look for more details in the coming weeks.