Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Students go back to the books

For the second consecutive year, Fallbrook will have fewer students roll out of bed to attend the first day of classes for the new school year. With classes set to start Monday, August 28, both Fallbrook Union Elementary School District (FUESD) and Fallbrook Union High School District (FUHSD) report that enrollment numbers are expected to be down approximately 2.4 percent from 2005-2006.

“The decline in enrollment relates to the affordability index of the housing,” said Chet Gannett, assistant superintendent of business services for FUHSD. “New houses are being built and sold, but they evidently are not being occupied by families with students in them. That’s why enrollment is going down.”

In 2004, the Fallbrook Union High School District confirmed anenrollment of 3,176 for their schools — Fallbrook High, Ivy High and Oasis High — during the CBES (California Basic Education System) period. That number dropped to 3,106 in 2005 and is estimated to slide down to between 3,020 and 3,050 for 2006.

“I would like to think this is the last year of decline, but I have a feeling we may be in for one more year,” Gannett said. “But in my position, I have to think that way. We built our budget this year knowing our numbers are down. We were ready for the decline.”

Ray Proctor, assistant superintendent of business services for the elementary school district, reported enrollment numbers are down for the elementary grades about the same percentage as the high school.

“Right now, we are estimating a drop of about 141 students for the new school year,” Proctor said. “Last year we had 5,819 students and this year we think it will be around 5,678.” With nine schools, seven in Fallbrook and two on Camp Pendleton, Proctor says the decline is evenly distributed across all campuses.

In Rainbow, Vallecitos School District representatives say they anticipate staying consistent compared to last year, with an expected enrollment of approximately 470 students. Vallecitos Elementary campus will educate approximately 250 students this year, while the Rainbow Advanced Institute for Learning expects 120 students and The New School will prepare for 100 students.

Bonsall Union School District, on the other hand, says they anticipate a slight increase in enrollment for the third consecutive year, primarily due to development in the Morro Hills area.

“We’re not as quite as bad off as the others,” said Wayne Jones, assistant superintendent of business services for Bonsall. “We had a little growth in 2004, a slight amount in 2005 and we are looking at another slight increase in 2006.”

Jones said the Bonsall district expects approximately 1,791 students to walk onto their four campuses for classes next week.

 

Reader Comments(0)