Public school districts experiencing decline in enrollment statewide

School districts statewide are grappling with declining enrollment, which means resources at some schools are being cut, with teachers being swapped to different schools.

And post-pandemic, some parents are pulling their kids out of the public school system.

While the pandemic turned things upside down for many, KIRO 7 spoke with a mom who said her daughter, who is a bright kid, is taking third-grade math in the second grade.

But when the pandemic hit, Courtney said “That was a challenge and then in third grade, obviously during the pandemic she was in third-grade math again.”

Then in fourth grade: “They had low enrollment and took a small group of fourth graders and put them in a third-grade class as a split class, but with no notice,” mom Courtney said.

She said that despite the teacher’s best efforts, her daughter was essentially taking third-grade math for the third time.

“And for the first time she was coming home and saying she hated school,” Courtney said.

Courtney said after meeting with her daughter’s school, Montlake Elementary: “It was incredibly frustrating and didn’t really feel like it was addressed when we did elevate it. So two weeks in, we said alright, I guess we’re going to pull her. It was a really tough call because we completely supported the school.”

They ended up sending their daughter to Saint Joseph School in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.

“The pandemic obviously changed things. We did see an influx in students wanting to transfer to Saint Joes,” said Patrick Fennessy, head of the school.

As of right now, Seattle Public Schools doesn’t track why a student leaves the district.

However, KIRO 7 spoke with multiple families who shared off camera why they decided to leave the district.

Some told KIRO 7 that Seattle’s gifted or highly capable program was changing in a way that no longer provided the same advanced class options for their kids.

Another family said their special needs student wasn’t getting enough attention.

Others switched because private schools reopened more quickly to in-person learning.

Elementary school teacher Rachel Pendergast pointed to more reasons: “One family in particular that I’m thinking of right now, it was multigenerational housing. So, it just wasn’t safe because even if the kids are OK, they could potentially bring something home that could get their families sick.”

Some families found their kids just did better with online learning.

Enrollment drops have dramatically impacted some schools in the Seattle School District.

Licton Springs K-8, for example, lost 39% of its students over the last two years.

John Hay Elementary in Queen Anne saw a similar drop, losing 191 students or 38.5% in two years.

Also in the top 10 list of schools with the steepest enrollment drops is the school where Courtney’s older daughter attended, Montlake Elementary, which lost 26.4% of its students, or 66 students.

KIRO 7′s Deedee Sun asked Courtney, “What goes through your head seeing those numbers?”

“I do feel guilty because we are part of that flight, and I feel like we tried for a long time to be part of the solution and it just didn’t seem to matter,” Courtney said.

Meanwhile, Seattle private schools are seeing upticks in enrollment.

The archdiocese for schools in Seattle said enrollment at their 72 Catholic schools in Seattle increased by 6% on average.

School officials at Saint Joseph said the families joining them aren’t necessarily Catholic.

“We have 53% of our students are Catholic now, which is actually quite low for a Catholic school. We used to have more like 70-some percent of our kids that were Catholic,” said Fennessy.

“So what’s tuition here?” Sun asked Fennessy.

“So, tuition here is $17,090 for primary school and $17,600 for middle school,” he responded.

For just about any family, that is a lot of money. Catherine said it’s not easy, but she’s grateful her family was able to make the switch for their older daughter.

“She loves it, it’s so great. I mean it was the best decision we could make for her,” said Catherine.

Chris Reykdal, the Washington superintendent of public instruction, said that after the steep enrollment drops in public schools during the pandemic, enrollment at schools is rebounding this year.

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