As of Oct. 1, the Park City School District has 4,049 students enrolled — a decrease of almost 70 students from last year. This continues a declining enrollment trend in the district, where around 100 students were lost each year.
During the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, Business Administrator Randy Upton said declining enrollment is due to fewer kindergarteners enrolling each year. For example, there are 200 more seniors this year than kindergarteners.
However, Upton said enrollment is projected to stay level for the next five years.
Superintendent Lyndsay Huntsman said that’s because students are returning to Park City schools earlier.
“A little over 80 this year came in ninth grade instead of 10th grade. Historically, they've been returning in 10th grade,” she said.
Huntsman said students are likely returning earlier now that ninth grade is at Park City High instead of Treasure Mountain Junior High.
Upton said the district will receive more Weighted Pupil Unit funding than projected due to the bump in high school students.
“Overall, the WPU that we projected for this year, we're about $40,000 up in WPU funding,” he said. “In the accounting world, we consider that break-even.”
Enrollment projections are based on birth rates for the county. Local housing developments also come into play, but Upton said he only considers them in projections if construction is almost finished.
