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School districts cope with fewer students and less money
By: STACY BRANDT - Staff Writer | ∞
NORTH COUNTY ---- After decades of increasing enrollment, most school districts throughout the county have started losing students in the last few years, according to a North County Times analysis of state figures.
And for school districts, fewer students equals less money ---- as much as $6,700 per student each year.
As parents leave costly areas near the coast for newer, cheaper neighborhoods in inland locales such as Riverside and San Bernardino counties, about three-quarters of the districts in the county are feeling the crunch.
The enrollment decline in North County is a bit less severe, with a little more than half of the districts losing students, according to a report released in March by the San Diego County Office of Education.
Losing students can have a detrimental effect on districts because they get less money to educate students, while operational costs such as utilities, insurance and employee pay and benefits continue to rise.
"It has a huge, huge impact," Brett McFadden, a budget analyst for the Association of California School Administrators, said about losing students. "If you have a list of the top three issues facing school districts, I would say this is in the top three."
Because districts get state money on a per-student basis, receiving between $5,300 and $6,700 per student each year depending on the type of district, losing even a small group of students can have an impact on their budgets.
For example, when the Oceanside Unified School District lost 581 students between the 2004-05 and 2005-06 school years, the amount of money it received from the state the following year was roughly $3 million lower.
In the last five years, the Oceanside and Vista unified school districts have each lost roughly $11 million in state funding as they have lost about 2,000 students.
"It's very difficult," said Lora Duzyk, the county Office of Education's assistant superintendent of business services. "Expenses do not decrease as quickly as the revenue does."
Causes and effects
The declining enrollment in San Diego County is being caused by a variety of factors, including a lower birth rate, decreasing immigration rates and the high cost of housing, the county's report states. As a whole, the schools in the county lost 1,227 students between the 2005-06 and 2006-07 school years.
Across the state, many parents are moving their school-age children to newer neighborhoods with less expensive housing, leaving the coast for the inland deserts, McFadden said.
"You go up along the coast all the way up to Eureka, you're going to see declining enrollment," he said.
Some high-performing districts along the coast in North County are actually bucking this trend and gaining students.
Another factor drawing students away from traditional schools is the proliferation of charter schools over the last decade. Charter schools are a type of public school that operates independently under a contract granted by a school district, county board of education or the state.
Though these schools are chartered through school districts they function as autonomous businesses and take the per-student money for each student.
In order to remain competitive against charter schools, private schools and even other districts, school officials are increasingly working to make their districts more attractive to parents and students in the face of increasing alternative educational choices.
In the last decade or so, educational options have steadily increased, giving parents the chance to enroll their children in schools other than their neighborhood campuses.
Oceanside Unified has tried over the last few years to increase options for families who want something different than typical schools have to offer, including new centers designed to help high school students who have fallen behind or are at risk of dropping out, said Robyn Phillips, the district's associate superintendent of business services.
"We're continuing to look at some alternatives," she said. "How do we compete?"
With fewer students comes less of a need for teachers, Phillips said, but even so, eliminating educators only accounts for about half of the changes the district has had to make to its budget in the last five years. Other cost-cutting measures have included scaling back busing and supplies, she said.
Other districts are facing similar situations, having to trim their budgets and hold off on new expenses.
As districts lose students and hire fewer teachers, it can become more difficult for educators to get a job, especially a permanent one, said Jan O'Reilly, president of the Vista Teachers Association.
"They can't pick up everybody," she said. "These poor (temporary teachers) are on pins and needles."
The numbers
Countywide, the loss of students started in 2003 after years of steady growth. The county total went from 499,186 students in 2003-04 to 494,001 students this year.
Out of 42 districts in the county, 31 are losing students this year, according to the county Office of Education report.
Based on demographic and economic trends, the county office has estimated that most districts will continue to lose students until 2013. After that, enrollment is expected to increase slightly.
The districts being hit the hardest are mostly in East County, while North County districts have generally been the least affected.
There are even a few districts in North County that are gaining students, though that growth is slowing.
"We're maintaining; we're not growing like we were," said Gary Hamels, assistant superintendent of business services for the San Marcos Unified School District
San Marcos Unified and Del Mar Union are the two districts in the area that have showed the biggest gains over the last five years, both with a 24 percent increase in students. The communities both of these districts service have seen explosive population growth over the last several years, which has brought more school-age children.
Between the 2001-02 school year and this year, 16,607-student San Marcos Unified gained 3,233 students and the 3,845-student Del Mar district gained 521 students.
Such rapid growth also can present a challenge, said Thomas Bishop, superintendent of the Del Mar district. In the last decade the district has gone from three campuses to eight.
"As it slows down, it's going to be good for the district," Bishop said of the increasing enrollment. "We're going to get a chance to breathe."
On the other hand, the Oceanside and Vista unified school districts have both lost roughly 8 percent of their students ---- about 2,000 children ---- over the last five years. This year, Vista Unified had 23,447 and Oceanside Unified had 20,223.
"It's just been a real challenge," Phillips said. "We've had to work hard at trimming our budget."
In Escondido, the 18,474-student elementary school district has lost more than 800 students and roughly $4 million in the last five years ---- 4 percent of its enrollment ---- while the 8,241-student high school district gained more than $6 million and 1,000 students, a 15 percent increase in enrollment.
Though both districts were growing in the early years of this decade, as less families move into the area, the elementary district was the first to see the slump, district officials said.
As the children work their way through the educational system, enrollment in the high schools also is expected to decline, said Barry Dragon, assistant superintendent in charge of business services for the high school district.
The small Cardiff School District has lost almost 17 percent of its students, but the school board actually planned for that loss by eliminating transfers from other districts, Superintendent Vince Jewell said.
Because the district receives more money from local property taxes than it would get from the state. it is one of only four in North County that doesn't get any more money from the state for having additional students.
"Now, we have more money per kid to do things," Jewell said. "That's when we could start to have smaller classes and hiring specialty teachers and all that."
The three other districts with a similar funding situation are Del Mar Union and Rancho Santa Fe and Solana Beach elementary districts.
Contact staff writer Stacy Brandt at (760) 631-6622 or sbrandt@nctimes.com. Comment at nctimes.com.
Students are disappearing from the rolls of more than half the school districts in North County, where living costs and other factors are causing enrollments to shrink. As schools' rosters shrink, so do their budgets; each student represents as much as $6,700 per year from the state. //Photo illustration by Kathy Magerkurth
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What about CUSD? wrote on Jun 24, 2007 1:20 AM:Gee, all the districts are mentioned except for Carlsbad. Didn't the reporter contact Roach? What about it? Rumors are that Buena Vista School will close. Sure are lots of homes for sale on every street, so I'm guessing CUSD will lose students. But then again, the royal city council makes sure every square foot of buildable space gets another house or towering condo conversion. Pack 'em in - slow growth?
John wrote on Jun 24, 2007 4:59 AM:L
John wrote on Jun 24, 2007 5:14 AM:Lets see, two of the most affluent and wealthy neighborhoods in the country Del Mar and Rancho Santa Fe. I hear sniveling about school funds? Maby they need more illegals in the neighborhood so that they can get their 6 grand from the State .What about that other brainstorm the Educators came up with ? Bussing ,What a strange article.
old parent wrote on Jun 24, 2007 7:06 AM:Charter Schools are privately owned and it is their way of grabbing the general educational money for private business..that is what a Charter school really is. If someone in your newspaper could list all these schools/owners we would know what type of education we the taxpayers are paying for. A traffic study would be nice so we could see if these parents transporting their children to these type of schools have an impact on traffic.
allen wrote on Jun 24, 2007 8:01 AM:I guess Vista Unified didn't get the word. Two, count 'em, two new magnet high schools, a small middle school on the huge, old and costly Lincoln site, and wait 'til these schools are staffed. Can you spell cost overruns ? What does the district administration know that we don't know?
don't know about this!! wrote on Jun 24, 2007 8:03 AM:decreasing immigration rates?? what county are they talking about?? I worked for San Marcos school district in Child Nutrtion....can you spell "FREE LUNCH" ? unreal percentage of free lunches there! Do you know they get free lunch over the Summer too?? No wonder we don't have any money, we have to feed everyone too?? !! Bizarre article, indeed!!
bvv wrote on Jun 24, 2007 8:04 AM:I don't see what a lower birth rate has to do with loss of present student population. Are the numbers being presented for projected or actual student population? Since that data provided doesn't show how much of a real loss is due to transfer to a charter school or to drop-out rates, it is hard to take the story seriously.
MIke wrote on Jun 24, 2007 8:26 AM:Finally, the free market forces of competition are providing a needed wake up call to public education. Charter and home schooling are eating into the historic monopoly public schools have enjoyed. Now perhaps public school standards will increase with a return to teaching students the basic skills they will need to succeed. Good public schools will retain students. The bad ones will not.
To bad so sad wrote on Jun 24, 2007 8:35 AM:I guess those illegal immigrant children are looking pretty good to the school districts now, ehhh?
To John wrote on Jun 24, 2007 8:38 AM:RSF and DM wouldn't do any better with illegals. Look at Vista Unified, they lost over 8% in the last 5 years, this despite the fact that their enrollment is more than 50% Hispanic, and many of them are children of illegals. Simply put, the Public School system is FAILING while the population in CA is aging. So, the afluent are taking their children and putting them in private schools, the middle class are home schooling or heading off to private schools, and even those left at this point are beginning to look for alternatives, including sending at least one of their children to Private school by having some of the older children work to support the younger one's educational needs. Maybe it's time to end this experiement ca;;ed Public School and put the money in the hands of the parnets: VOUCHERS!
Funding Losses wrote on Jun 24, 2007 8:54 AM:By the way, if you consider ALL sources of funding, including Federal and State, you will find the "Decreases" are closer to $9k per student. As for calling this a LOSS, I find that disingnuous as the "per student" fuding is intended to FUND THE EDUCATION OF THE STUDENT! Therefore, the amount of money the district is getting for each students has not gone down. In fact, the state funding per student is expected to go up again this year as the June/July budget adjustments should be rolling out of Sacramento any day now. Next school year will see more increases in per student funding, even though declining enrollments are impacting many districts. So, you can't simply take a District's budget numbers year to year and divide difference by the differnce in student enrollment to calculate the per student funding. You must remember that each year the per studnet funding increases. Also, you must realize that as enrollment numbers drop, so too do the needs of the Ditricts to have so many people to support the education of these lowered numbers of students. You will also find that Districts no longer need to have so many facilities to house all these students. Ever wonder why the Unions keep demanding smaller class-sizes? They already knew the numbers would be declining. So, the only way to keep their numbers hire is to decrease the number of students each teacher teaches. When Industry down-sizes they lay off employees. When School Districts down-size they simply cut class-sizes in half to keep everybody employed. Thus in effect even though the per student funding the District receives is going up, the administration of these funds is such that the actuall dollars spent on each student is declining! Can we say "mismangement"? Or how about "ABUSE OF PUBLIC TRUST"!
hometowner wrote on Jun 24, 2007 8:56 AM:Here's a novel idea. How about cutting overhead? Less students equals less teachers, less classrooms, less maintenance, etc. And how about cutting out the social engineering aspects such as those hired to help with a students self esteem.
To to bad so sad wrote on Jun 24, 2007 9:29 AM:If you can't contribute to the conversation without bringing in sarcasm don't contribute. And no, the illegals are not looking good to the school districts. Who do you think they are feeding over the summer?
The facts don't lie: wrote on Jun 24, 2007 9:52 AM:California consistently ranks in the BOTTOM 5 states in the nation for public education. It is no wonder some parents have chosen a different option by choosing charter, home and private schooling. In order to compete in an increasingly competative world, our kids will need a quality primary education to prepare them for life. It appears that the decline and loss of students is related to the "survival of the fittest" demonstratated by the fact that districts that offer a higher quality education choice to parents are gaining students. Could that have anything to do with the exodus?
Skip wrote on Jun 24, 2007 10:06 AM:The real title of this story should be “School districts cope with fewer students who speak English” If we are truly running out of students, then simply close the unneeded schools.
to the dim bulb wrote on Jun 24, 2007 10:40 AM:To bad so sad wrote on Jun 24, 2007 8:35 AM: " I guess those illegal immigrant children are looking pretty good to the school districts now, ehhh? " Not when you are smart enough to know that schools get a fixed percentage of the state budget. Less illegals in the schools means more money for each of the citizen and legal immigrant students.
Sad but true wrote on Jun 24, 2007 11:01 AM:A teacher friend of mine in the midwest says the district would be sunk w/o the illegals' kids in there. On the bright side, he says most of them exhibit a strong desire to learn.. and this is the middle of nothing southwestern KS. It's not just here.
bvv wrote on Jun 24, 2007 11:02 AM:In response to "hometowner..6/14, 8:56am" I have an analysis issued by the SD County Office of Education in preparation for the '95-5' citizens initiative. [based on the 1996-97 J380 report data] Countywide totals: [1] students - 437,419. [2] Instructional Administration - direct classroom support -- $45,525,371 [3] Special projects Admin. direct classroom support - $12,180,468] [4]Other administrative costs - $74,559,208] [5] Board/Superintendent costs - $13,204,822] [6] Centralized Data Processing - $11,663,311] [7] Maintenance & Operations - $15,790,021] [8] Total columns 2-7 $172,923,201 [9] Total J201 unaudited actu als $2,199,290,714 [this is 7.86% of finds] [10] Reduction necessary to be at the 5% for administration costs, if the 95/5 initiative were sucessful [it was not] $62,958,665. BTW EUHSD administrative costs were 11.40% reduction necessary to be at 5% $2,283,505. EUSD admin. costs were 7.98% -- reduction necessary to be at 5% $2,311,887. This data is "old" but does give a snapshot of the say our school districts allocate their funds.
Plenty of $ for a good private school wrote on Jun 24, 2007 11:08 AM:Most private, especially parochial, schools don't cost $6K/child per year, yet they consistently outperform the public ones. Seems to me like the state is wasting its money. Not only would vouchers save those unable to afford to go to private school from the multi-generational poverty trap of poverty->bad education->poverty, but it looks like it would save the state money too. Let's bring free market capitalism to the one part of the US economy that has doggedly resisted it, and consistently failed as a result: Publik Educashun.
Absurd... wrote on Jun 24, 2007 11:50 AM:To see the high amounts of overly paid fat cat teachers & admin. staff employees, with pensions, paid holidays, INC. THEIR BIRTHDAYS! (20 sick days in some dists!) I've NEVER seen this kind of overpaid (avg. teacher is 45K plus today & most principals are over $100K per year, with the Supts. in the $200K plus a year range now. Cut the fat from the teacher's Union staff/certificated first, esp. in Carlsbad, Escondido, San Marcos and Vista...tragic. In Carlsbad the waste and overpd. teachers were striking even as their student population is shrinking, yet they are bldg. a new school..plus opening another one to please the poor newcomers paying MelloRoos for it. Fire them & hire new teachers..abolish tenure!
to Sad But True wrote on Jun 24, 2007 12:07 PM:Wht then are American Citizens paying for unneeded schools that are being used to educate children of Illegal Aliens?
Gary wrote on Jun 24, 2007 1:51 PM:I grew up in Torrance California. When they ran out of students they simply closed the schools. There were over 35 elementary schools when I was growing up, and now there is about a half a dozen. Funny thing though, when I grew up and went through 12 years of public school, I do not remember any kids who could not speak English.
SEE RELATED STORY wrote on Jun 24, 2007 1:53 PM:Hundreds of students fail to make it to graduation day http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/06/10/news/inland/23_10_016_9_07.txt
To All wrote on Jun 24, 2007 2:29 PM:Teachers want smaller class sizes because research shows students perfoem better; it is also one of thereasons given by parents who send their kids to private school. California also ranks in the bottom 5 for school funding as well. Funding is not the main reason for the performance but it is one. Others are unqualified teachers, administrators, government, and the biggest parents. There are a lot of reasons why schools are not performing and why enrollment is decreasing.
Ingrid wrote on Jun 24, 2007 3:13 PM:If we can build and open schools to meet rising enrollment, then we can also close schools as neccessary to meet the declining enrollment. The city I grew up in closed schools or converted then to adult schools as required so I do not see what is so hard about this here. Could it be the UNIONS!
Alf wrote on Jun 24, 2007 3:50 PM:"Gary" 1:51pm is right. The wave phenomena. Waves of baby boomers hit schools, forcing expansion. They graduate and there is a contraction (as it were). A few years later the process repeats, but this time less expansion. Still an unashamed Libertarian, Alf.
Nancy wrote on Jun 24, 2007 4:31 PM:Everyone spoke our English language in my grade school, high school, and college. Guess that tells you my age when times were better. Signs in stores were never written in a foreign language. Why do we tolerate that today???
District $$$'s wrote on Jun 24, 2007 4:53 PM:School districts that feed students during the summer use a grant from the state so "their" money is not used, just ours. Also, if you qualify for free lunch, you get free school transportation, too.
John wrote on Jun 24, 2007 6:11 PM:Wow! Maby its time to put these so called Educators on a very short leash. Make their salaries based on performance. You don't produce, you don't get that raise . And if you keep on being non productive, Guess what? your fired . How many administrators for each actual teacher do we need ?Failure,Failure,Failure.But that's the Democratic way, throw more money at it.
Charter Schools are NOT privately owned wrote on Jun 24, 2007 6:20 PM:You sound just like the school districts who think the charters are "stealing" money from them. Our public education sytem is broken, we need reform. Parents who can afford to homeschool and/or send their kids to private schools do. Those that may not be able to afford to do so can attempt to put their kids in a charter school. Parents and students should have a choice rather than be stuck in a school they feel will NOT educate them appropriately. Here's an idea...........ask all of the teachers and school adminis you know where their kids go (or went) to school. You'd be surprised by their answers.
Charter Schools wrote on Jun 24, 2007 7:20 PM:By the by, Charters are NOT privately owned! They are run by the parents, Teachers, and various non-profit organizations that have formally requested under provision in the CA Education Code to open and run a Charter School. The District in which they operate has to review the Charter Application and grant approval. Once approved the District can and oes review the Charter from time to time and can revoke the Charter. All these Charter School are in effect Public Schools, but they are not governed by the strict micro-management of the Unions and the District. So, as a result we have seen some good things come from some of these Charters. But, here is the big news on Enrollment numbers: Students attending Charter Schools within a given District actually are counted as part of the total enrollment numbers and the overal annual Budget for the District includes the monies for the Charter Schools. However, that portion required under law to be provided to the Cahrter School has to be taken right off the top and provided directly to the Cahrter School. Of course, in the case of Guajome Park Academy, the facilities are owned by the District as required under Prop 39, which was used to pass the Prop O Bond. So, in that particular case the Charter does not recieve the facilities protion of the funds.
James wrote on Jun 24, 2007 8:01 PM:Gee wiz Mike I seriously doubt that charter schools are teaching kids basic skills. Try not just visiting and crony with them, how about looking up their test scores from the State’s STAR-9, QWA, CHASSEE and SAT’s for instance VUSD’s most famous Guajome Park Academy scored a 1 out of 5 possible points. Guajome Park Academy could not have gotten a worst score and you don’t see them blinking a bit. I hardly think these charter school scores will promote the other schools to increase their standards.
Amanda wrote on Jun 24, 2007 8:08 PM:Stacy the numbers are more like $9,500-12,000 PER KID! not this lame $6,000. When you add all the revenues do the math.
It's NOT class size either wrote on Jun 25, 2007 7:36 AM:I'm so tired of the reduce class size chant. Smaller class size does NOT improve academic achievement. What "research" is there on that? We reduced class size here in CA (K-3) & did NOT see the results that were promised. Do you know why? Because smaller class size means more teachers & NOT all of them may be qualified to teach. I'd rather have my child in a larger class with a decent teacher than in a smaller one with an unqualified warm body standing at the front of the room. The NEA is attacking NCLB & believes that smaller class size (15) and more money ($15k per kid) will help. I'd like for them to look to Washington DC's public schools where the classes ARE capped at 15 & they receive $15K per child. Just give me a voucher, I'm sick of the excuses.
hunee wrote on May 11, 2008 6:57 PM:man yall need 2 cut down a couple of schools and then yall have more students and while yall at it start giving the kids money for the credit of going to school they go to school for 8 hours a day just like us adults.
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