Wa-Hi enrollment picture brightens -- District numbers up

Wa-Hi enrollment picture brightens
Districtwide student counts up slightly from last year

Students continued to trickle in at Walla Walla High School the first two weeks of school improving the enrollment outlook significantly by the time the district logged its first official count of the school year last Friday.

Two weeks ago the Deputy Superintendent Dr. Bill Jordan briefed school board members with preliminary enrollment figures that revealed student "head count" numbers were down 127 from this time last year at Walla Walla High School.

Tuesday night Jordan's report to the school board was brighter as he reported Walla Walla High School's "head count" numbers are now at 1850, just 20 students below last year's numbers.

"The kids just kept showing up," Jordan said. "Our counselors and staff did a great job contacting families and locating students."

Elementary enrollment numbers remain slightly higher than last year while middle school counts are about the same.

Jordan noted the district's 2008-09 general fund budget was based on 5700 Full-time Equivalent (FTE) students, which is the same number used to develop last year's budget. The district's FTE count currently rests at 5801.74.