MISSION — Sharyland ISD is eyeing open enrollment as a way to shore up plummeting enrollment numbers that are costing the district millions in revenue.
The board discussed allowing students living outside the district to transfer through inter-district transfers at its Dec. 14 meeting.
Enrollment at Sharyland currently stands at 9,784 students, down from 10,160 in 2019.
The district is projecting a revenue decrease of about $2,144,094 for the 2021-22 school year because of that dropping enrollment, $1,649,058 from state funding and $495,036 from local funding.
Sharyland reached an enrollment high of 10,280 in the 2014-15 school year. A district study conducted last year forecasts a decline in enrollment of about 1,000 students over the next seven years, but did not predict enrollment would fall near where it stands now until 2022.
“This is the first year since 2011 that we’re under 10,000 enrollment,” Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Ismael Gonzalez said. “And based on just looking at the demographics … it doesn’t look like we’re going to see any increase, just ourselves within our boundaries, because of what we had discussed last week where 100 homes now brings in only roughly 30 students into our district. We have a lot of those long-term families that stay here at the district after their students graduate.”
More bad news may come out of the upcoming legislative cycle, Gonzalez said.
“They are telling us to expect some budget cuts in education, so that’s what we plan on doing as we get into the upcoming budget cycle,” he said.
There were some indications enrollment could get a boost from other quarters.
This year the district has 200 kids enrolled in pre-K, half of what it would be in a normal year and a decrease that’s largely been seen as a temporary side effect of the pandemic.
New families moving to the area may also help bolster enrollment and finances.
“We see a lot of residential growth out here, but we don’t know what that’s going to bring to us yet,” Gonzalez said.
Ultimately, however, Gonzalez says the district is aiming to add about 162 more students to its enrollment.
Gonzalez said the district’s goal is to regain enrollment totals consistent with the 2019-20 school year, which he says will take 162 more students.
To meet the district’s enrollment goals, Superintendent Maria Vidaurri said open enrollment is likely a necessity.
“In order to address this that we’re seeing here, we’re going to have to open enrollment…” she said.
The board did not vote on open enrollment at the meeting, but they will revisit it in a future meeting. Vidaurri says if they opt to begin inter-district transfers, the district would need to begin advertising and recruiting early in 2021.
“That would kind of be our timeline,” she said. “If we’re going to look at this for next year, then we would like to start acting on it in February.”
