Students continue to pack Tri-City classrooms. And more could be coming

Pasco School District enrollment hit 18,000 students after the Labor Day holiday — continuing a years-long trend of growth.

Most other districts in the Tri-Cities area also have seen at least modest increases in student numbers, according to unofficial counts released this week. 

School districts make their official fall enrollment report to the state in October, and the numbers could rise even more before then.

As of Tuesday, the Pasco district had exactly 18,000 students, or 168 students more than at the same time last year.

That included 10,081 students in kindergarten through sixth-grade, 2,831 students in seventh- and eighth-grades, and 5,088 high schoolers.

The biggest jump was in seventh- and eighth-grade, which saw an increase of 161 students, or 6 percent.

Elementary enrollment was up by eight students total, and high school enrollment was down by one student.

The district plans its next enrollment release on Oct. 2.

Kennewick School District remains the largest in the Tri-Cities, with 19,022 students as of this week. That’s up from 18,879 students last October.

Richland School District also has seen an increase. Its enrollment was 13,791 students as of Wednesday, which is down slightly from the first day of school but up overall compared to last fall, when enrollment was 13,682 students.

Officials expect enrollment to fluctuate in the next few weeks.

Other Tri-City area school districts have seen a slight dip in student numbers.

In Columbia-Burbank, 736 students were taking classes as of Wednesday, down from 747 students last September.

Kiona-Benton City School District has 1,365 students so far this year, compared to 1,439 at the same time last year.

Finley School District didn’t provide enrollment figures on Wednesday.