Enrollment may hold its own

Anyone who doubts that our society is much more mobile these days should have talked to New Hampton Superintendent Jay Jurrens last week.“Yesterday, we were two up, and today we’re one down,” he said when asked about how the school’s enrollment numbers are shaping up for the 2016-17 school year. “Really, what matters is Oct. 3.”Enrollment is critical to schools, for it tells them how much revenue they will receive in any given year.In most years, the magical date for school districts is Oct. 1, but because that date falls on a Saturday in 2016, Oct. 3 is the critical date.It is on that day that schools will base their certified enrollment, which will tell districts how much funding they will receive the following school year.Jurrens said he had projected that the district’s enrollment will fall by about 10 students this fall, so if New Hampton can keep its enrollment relatively stable, the superintendent would call it a “win.”Considering each student is worth about $6,500 a year, a decrease of even 10 students would cost New Hampton about $65,000.For the complete story see the 9/13/2016 New Hampton Tribune.