Little Difference In School Enrollment

Little Difference In School Enrollment

BOBBY ARDOIN

St. Landry Now.com Editor

After six weeks of classes, the latest pupil membership numbers in St. Landry public school classrooms resemble the attendance recorded at the end of the 2024-25 session, according to parish school officials.

Child Welfare And Attendance Supervisor Dwanetta Scott told a school board committee on Tuesday night that the 32 District school sites currently have 11,110 students, a classroom count that is similar to when school ended in May.

The District, Scott said, actually gained about 56 more students this month compared to August, when the first classroom counts were made.

Accuracy in counting school enrollment is important, said Scott, since student attendance in parish public schools determines the amount of state Minimum Foundation Program revenues that are provided annually to the District.

Last year the state provided about $10,000 to St. Landry for each child attending public school classes.

Finance Director Shaun Grantham wrote in her annual budget message and again when she discussed finances again during committee meetings in July, that student enrollment will be a crucial factor in determining a final operating fund balance for 2025-26.

Grantham projected a $4.9 million budget deficit for the District at the end of the current fiscal year. That amount, Grantham indicated, was less than the $7 million she felt the District would absorb when she made her original projections in July.

“Expect further student enrollment decline in student count (by approximately 743),” Grantham noted in her written message.

Grantham expected Helix to grab 388 students this year from St. Landry, but Scott said in a post-committee meeting interview that Helix currently has 473 students enrolled on the campus located on Interstate 49 off Guilbeau Road.

Overall student loss this year could cost the District about $5.74 million in state funding that is based on student population.

On Tuesday night Scott told committee members that current enrollment numbers parishwide indicate that 796 students have apparently transferred to other schools located within the District.

Scott said that 269 students have transferred to the newly-opened Helix AI and Bio-Medical Academy, while another 17 have moved to Ecole St. Landry, located in Sunset.

Helix Academy and Ecole St. Landry are both Type 1 charter schools, said Curriculum Director Angela Cassimere.

Cassimere noted that Type 1 charter schools are state approved charter programs.

Helix, said Cassimere, receives no shared services from the District, while Ecole St. Landry gets some form of services from the parish.

J.S. Clark Leadership Academy and St. Landry Charter School in Opelousas have both received transfers from parish public schools, Scott said.

There are 65 former St. Landry public school students now attend Clark, while St. Landry Charter has 73, according to Scott.