Friday, Sep. 05, 2008

Pasco leading Tri-City student enrollment growth

By Sara Schilling, Herald staff writer

Pasco schools continue to outpace the rest of the Tri-Cities when it comes to student enrollment growth.

The biggest bump in that district this year has come in elementary school, especially kindergarten, said Dennis Maguire, associate superintendent of curriculum and instruction.

"We continue to grow," he said. "(It's) not at the same pace we have previously, but it's still about 500 students or so, which is (the size of) another elementary school."

There were about 7,000 elementary students signed up for class as of Thursday, up from about 6,580 last year, Maguire said.

Total district enrollment was about 13,500 students Thursday.

Growing enrollment can be good news for districts because they get money from the state based on how many students take classes. But it also sometimes means they have to scramble to find space and staff to accommodate more students.

Pasco officials are making adjustments in schools because of the growth and plan to open additional sections of kindergarten, Maguire said.

Richland schools also have seen a bump in student numbers, with 10,620 students enrolled Wednesday.

That's 23 more than on the first day of school last week. First day enrollment in Richland was up 315 students -- or 3 percent -- over last year.

In Kennewick, enrollment growth has been smaller. The district had 14,484 students signed up as of Tuesday, an increase of 22 students from 2007. That count doesn't include Tri-Tech Skills Center, alternative education, off-campus learning or the home school partnership program.

Ridgeview, Amistad, Eastgate, Hawthorne, Washington, Vista and Westgate elementary schools all saw an increase in student numbers, although overall elementary enrollment was down 32 students over last year, the district reported based on a Tuesday count.

Middle and high school enrollment were up between 25 and 30 students over last year.

The Finley School District has about 20 fewer students than last year, with about 947 students enrolled, said Superintendent Suzanne Feeney.

But it's exceeded the enrollment projection used to create the budget for this school year, she said.

The Columbia-Burbank district also appears to be on track with the enrollment target used for its budget, said Superintendent Lou Gates. He said 903 students were signed up on the first day of school. Updated numbers weren't available for this week.

A more complete picture of Tri-City school enrollment will come after districts count their students today and report those numbers to the state.