Shari Barnett for Saline Board of Education

Loss of student enrollment in Saline Area Schools (SAS) is concerning.  In the last 5 years, there has been a loss of over 12.3% of the total student body.  When correcting for the steady increase that the district has allowed for additional school of choice (SOC) enrollment, the loss of total student enrollment is over 15%. Many from the community have raised concerns over this issue and rather than working on strategies to lessen the flow of students out of the district, community members are told that, “all schools are experiencing student loss” and “low birth rates are leading to these decreases.”  However, at the same time, other area private schools are experiencing maximum enrollment and new schools are opening and filling classrooms after first year in operation. 

To reduce the loss of funding associated with this loss of local student enrollment, SAS administration has increased the SOC enrollment each year.  The total number of SOC students enrolled in the district has increased by 36% in the last 5 years.  SOC students attending SAS are now over 11% of the total student population and rising.  Allowing for more and more SOC students to bridge the deficit is not a wise or feasible long term option. 

My proposal is to address this issue with a needs assessment to determine the factors leading to families’ decisions to leave the district and seek K-12 education elsewhere.  To date, even though loss of students is a known issue, no formal exit interviews or surveys have been implemented.  In addition, no administrative led campaign has been developed to persuade families to return to SAS or to reconsider their decision to leave the district.  Lastly, no analysis has been done to accurately capture where the students have gone.  There are no accurate numbers to demonstrate numbers of students who moved out of the district, chose school of choice at a different public school system, chose to home school or chose private school.  This information is paramount to help develop a strategy to stop the student loss and win students back to the district.