The opening of a new Iola Elementary School last year brought a surprising bump in enrollment numbers, so administrators were curious to see if that trend might continue.
It turned out to be a one-time boost.
This year, enrollment returned to a more traditional trend: For the past 35 years, the Iola district lost an average of about 25 students each year. That’s likely true this year as well, with preliminary estimates indicating the district could lose anywhere from 15 to 26 students.
The decrease also bumps Iola High School down to the 3A level in all sports. Football has been at the 3A level for the past few years, but this is the first year all sports will compete at that level. Most of the schools in the Pioneer League are also 3A; Iola will remain one of the larger schools in the league.
All schools in Kansas conduct their official enrollment count on Sept. 20. Superintendent Stacey Fager said figures have not been finalized, but he discussed preliminary results with school board members on Monday evening.
Overall, the district reported 1,061 students from kindergarten through 12th grade, a loss of 26 compared to last year. However, some of the district’s 5-year-old preschool students are eligible to be included in the kindergarten count, which could reduce that number to a loss of around 15.
Last September, the district reported 1,087 students, an increase of 36 over 2021’s enrollment (1,051).
Fager and board member Dan Willis noted the district’s enrollment is still higher than it was two years ago thanks to last year’s boost.
The numbers do not include preschool. This year’s preschool class was so large, the district had to add a class and limited enrollment to students who live in the district.
Fager and Willis also discussed declining population in southeast Kansas; in recent years, Crawford County is the only regional county to gain residents.
“We’re the most stable we’ve been in three decades,” Willis said. “I’m still optimistic.”
A REVIEW of numbers by grade shows few patterns, with some showing more students and others showing a decrease.
It can be helpful to compare the number of kindergarteners (new students) to the number of seniors (graduating students). That allows administrators to better predict the future by comparing incoming versus outgoing classes.
This year’s kindergarten class is 91, a decrease of 4 from last year and the second-largest class in the district, but it’s quite a bit higher than the Class of 2024, which has 76 students.
However, the Class of 2025 — this year’s junior class — is the largest in the district, with 96 students.
