District 742 Sees Dramatic Swell In Enrollment, Adding 266 Students

(KNSI) – St. Cloud Area School District 742 is seeing a surge of students settling into school, surprising and thrilling board members.

During a presentation at Wednesday night’s school board meeting, Executive Director of Finance Amy Skaalerud broke down the numbers. “We are looking at an increase from last year of 266 students. It’s about 2.9%.” The enrollment is based on the second Friday counts taken after the first two weeks of school and represents 193 students more than the district had projected.

Board member Al Dahlgren expressed amazement at the numbers. “This is a really big increase in the number of students. I’ve been on the board 12 years. I haven’t ever seen anything anywhere near these numbers.”

Elementary schools are driving nearly all of the increase, with enrollment up 223 students compared to last fall, a 5.4% jump. School officials say every elementary building in the district saw growth, with the largest increases at Westwood, Talahi, and Madison schools.
Kindergarten enrollment showed dramatic growth, jumping from 690 students last fall to 761 this year. The district had projected only 680 kindergarten students.

The Welcome Center processed over 1,000 new-to-district students this summer, with 817 of those in first through 12th grade. The majority of new students came from other Minnesota districts or charter schools. Secondary enrollment remained pretty stable, with middle schools up 47 students, mostly at South Junior High, while the high schools decreased by 21 students overall.

Executive Director of Community Education Shannon Avenson explained to the board that the enrollment boom appears to buck what’s happening around Minnesota. “This is not a trend in the state. Most school districts are not seeing an increase in enrollment.”

The unexpected growth is forcing the district to examine several operational areas, including class sizes, staffing needs, space allocation, and boundary considerations. Officials noted that two kindergarten teachers were already hired in August to accommodate demand. The enrollment increase affects the district’s boundary redesign process, which hasn’t been updated since the 1990s. School officials began reassessing boundaries earlier this year.

___