The South Washington County School Board heard a report from Finance Director Daniel Pyan at its meeting last Thursday, who informed them that lower enrollment numbers are a concern.

“Enrollment continues to be a major financial issue for us. It’s something that we’re really worried about – how funding is going to come in,” he said.

He said that district enrollment is down a projected 1.52 percent from the last school year to 18,469, down from 18,754 in the 2019-2020 school year.

“Most of our revenue is derived from multiplying the number of students we have by the state aid formula,” he said.

Last year, the district had an enrollment increase of 1.13 percent, leading into the lower number this year. The district had hoped at budget time for an increase in enrollment.

“That drop alone is a difference of $3 million from last year or $4.8 million from what we budgeted,” said Pyan. “We’ll do a revised budget next month, and the revenue numbers will be down.”

The district projects another dip of .72 percent next year before slight increases in 2022-23 and 2023-24.

“Next year’s a problem, too. Taking the numbers we had, we’re showing a drop of 132 students, another $1.7 million.

He said the uncertainty makes it difficult to plan for staffing.

“It’s tough to staff right now. The principals are struggling. We can’t staff based on phantom numbers. We have to see the kids come in,” he said. “Right now, enrollment is an issue.”

Pyan told board members that a budget relief bill still is alive in the Minnesota Legislature, but that measure would only provide the district about half of what the enrollment decline will cost.

“The only one still out there gives us half. Odds are it will probably pass, but it won’t give us the dollars we need,” said Pyan. See BUDGET page 8

Finance Director Daniel Pyan gave a presentation on enrollment concerns to the South Washington County School Board last Thursday night.