Enrollment numbers dropped at the West Central School Corporation on the second student count day of the school year.
Superintendent Dan Zylstra said the latest count day was Feb. 3.
“We are down 24 kids from September which surprised me,” explained Zylstra. “It’s sort of trended downward and there were some last minute departures where kids moved out. What that means for us is the State reduces the funding mid-year. It’s about $80,000.”
The funding that the school corporation has gotten from the state so far this school year was based on the higher number in September. Zylstra said it will be a hit to the budget, but not critical.
“We’re not in dire shape or anything, but it’s something to be aware of. Again looking at our overall structure of our school, and our configuration of our staffing, those are things to think about. If we can provide good services, we want make sure we do that in a way that is within the budgetary bounds we have.”
Zylstra did note that there is a bill in this year’s General Assembly that would allow corporations to count seniors who graduate at the semester.
He added that he plans to do a little marketing of the school to bring up the enrollment numbers.
