CCSD Numbers Slightly Down; WSD is Up

RISON - The Cleveland County School District has seen a slight decrease in enrollment while the Woodlawn School District has seen an increase about two weeks into the 202324 school year. Cleveland County Superintendent Jerrod Williams said the best time to begin looking at enrollment figures is after the first 10 days of school, which was this past Friday, Aug. 25. Williams said the state considers the passing of the first 10 school days as enough time for students to settle in and give districts a better idea of what enrollment could be like for the year. Williams explained that is usually enough time for students already on the rolls to show up and those who moved register with another district. As of Tuesday, Aug. 29, the Cleveland County School District had 697 students enrolled while the Woodlawn School District had 584. Both school districts had reported higher student counts just after the start of the new school year on Aug. 14 but have seen slight drops since then. Cleveland County was hovering in the 705 range at tegh start while Woodlawn was just above 590. Tuesday's enrollment for Cleveland County was down from the average district-wide enrollment of 705 listed for the district for the 2022-23 school year, according to the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) Data Center. Woodlawn's enrollment was up from the 573 listed by ADE for 2022-23. Enrollment is directly related to a school district's funding since the state provides "foundation funding" based on the average number of students in the district from the previous year. This year's funding is based on a district's average enrollment for the 2022-23 school. During the legislative session early this year, the slegislature increased the per-student amount for foundation funding to $7,413 per pupil. An additional $205 per student was added to help districts offset the additional expense of the new $50,000 minimum teacher salaries and other pay increases. The p...