Enrollment drops in two of three area school districts

Enrollment at Carson City and Lyon County schools dipped a little for the 2008-2009 year, while Storey County increased its numbers by a few.

Friday was the official count day, when the state Department of Education counts students in each school district. Those numbers will impact the amount of state funding the districts receive.

Carson City's overall enrollment dropped from 8,174 last school year to 8,009 this year, not a large drop and not surprising to Superintendent Richard Stokes.

"We have actually been declining since 2003, so this is a trend that we've seen for several years now, and it appears to be continuing," he said.

He said one reason for the decline is housing prices in Carson City that are still higher than many young families can afford, as well as the downturn in the economy.

He said he didn't expect to see the numbers turn around for at least another school year.

In Lyon County, the district is down by 321 students in its 17 schools, with 9,257 last year and 8,936 students in Friday's count.

Superintendent Caroline McIntosh also blamed the economy, in particular the loss of construction jobs that forced residents to move out of the county.

"I'm tickled we're holding as well as we are," she said.

The drop in students caused a bit of confusion at Dayton High School, according to Principal Wayne Workman, who had to move some students around after losing a few teachers.

He said projections were that Dayton High would have 845 students, but ended up with 767, leaving it with more teachers than needed, figuring one teacher for every 30 students, the formula the district uses.

One social studies teacher left to work for Storey County, and the district declined to hire a sub as a math teacher, and just eliminated the position, he said.

Since there were more students in science classes than usual, the district decided to hire a science teacher, move teachers from elective courses to math and social studies and move students around to other electives.

"Our counselors worked countless hours all week," he said. "You usually have this worked out by the end of summer, and we had to do that process in one week."

He said letters were sent home with students explaining the situation to parents.

Storey County schools increased by five students this year, from 428 to 433.

The numbers for Storey County are unofficial, according to school employee Jerry Adkins.