Shoreline School District officials said Tuesday they were pleased with the result of their annual fourth-day enrollment count.
“We’ve met what we’ve budgeted for and are being very conservative,” superintendent Jim Welsh said.
According to district comptroller Paul Flemming, the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) students enrolled this year is about six to 10 FTEs less than what the district initially projected.
Though the actual enrollment is lower than projected, this is good news for the district. Having budgeted close to what this year’s actual enrollment is, the district will not have to make any staff changes at this time, Welsh said.
The fourth-day count is the main factor in determining how much state funding a district will receive for that year. For each FTE student, the district receives a little over $4,000 per year from the state. Additional funding is provided for individual programs including special education and bilingual students.
However, the state funds public school districts by their projected enrollment during the months of September to January. After that, districts receive funding monthly based on their average enrollment up to that point. If a district’s projected enrollment is much higher than their actual enrollment, they can face large budget cuts.
Last year, the district’s actual enrollment was about 75 fewer students than they had projected. Because of the gap, the district had to curtail spending and hold back about 30 percent of their unencumbered balance, Flemming said.
As with school districts across the state, Shoreline has seen a significant enrollment decline for several years. Officials attribute it to a troubled economy, local layoffs and families moving from the area for jobs.
“Now we’ll see if we can hold this enrollment through the end of the year,” Welsh said.
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