By Hutchinson Public Schools
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Each year, Kansas statute designates September 20 as Enrollment Count Day; the date that is used to determine the number of students regularly enrolled for funding purposes. As of September 20, 2023, USD 308 student population is 4,030. The district is up 29 students from the end of last year (May 2023); up 33 students from count day last year (Sept 2022); and up 7 students from enrollment in the 2021-22 school year.
Schools that increased their student enrollment are Faris Elementary, Graber Elementary, Morgan Elementary, Wiley Elementary, HMS 8, and Hutchinson Virtual School (total increase: 183 students). The greatest increases are at Hutchinson Virtual School, followed by Faris Elementary. Student populations have decreased at the following schools: STEM Magnet at Allen, Lincoln-McCandless, HMS 7, and Hutchinson High School. The total decrease within these schools is 150. The largest decreases are at Lincoln-McCandless and HMS 7.
The district’s elementary school numbers have seen an increase of 11 when compared to last year’s count day numbers. This increase is attributed to the addition of 27 virtual elementary students. This year, sixth-grade students slated to attend the now-named Lincoln-McCandless were able to choose another school if desired, as that was predicted to be a large class and at capacity. Former Lincoln students were able to choose other schools that may have been closer to their residence, while some returned to their home school boundary within the district. About 15 students from Lincoln chose to attend a neighboring school district.
“A trend we’ve seen the past few years is that virtual school is growing. Some families transitioned home for virtual learning during COVID, are loving the experience, and have not returned to the traditional in-person school environment. We support those families and those students through our virtual school with certified teachers and staff using USD308 approved curriculum,” said Dr. Dawn Johnson, Superintendent.
Currently, USD 308 is undergoing a facility study with a group of approximately 50 stakeholders from the district and community. At the conclusion of that study, more will be known about the future of many of the USD 308 buildings, including Lincoln Elementary. At this time, Lincoln is being used to educate 3 Head Start classrooms that were previously housed at McCandless. There is a short waitlist to serve more students in Head Start, but finding teachers certified in early education proves to be a challenge. Over the summer, there were conversations about Lincoln being used to support educational space for the Early Education Center and a local group of homeschooled students; however, neither of those conversations led to either group officially requesting to use space at Lincoln Elementary.
2023-24 Enrollment by the Numbers as Compared to 2022-23 Enrollment:
Allen -4 students
Faris +32 students
Graber +12 students
Lincoln-McCandless -94 students
Morgan +12 students
Wiley +26 students
HMS 7 -37 students
HMS 8 +10 students
Virtual School +91 students
Hutch High -15 students
