Huron County View

2019 unofficial fall counts show slight variance from last year for most districts




THE THUMB – The 2019 unofficial fall count for Thumb area schools shows only a slight variance from a year ago and not much change over four years for most area public school districts.

•BAD AXE

Bad Axe superintendent Greg Newland reported an unofficial FTE (Full-Time Equivalency) of 885.37 for the fall of 2019. The Hatchets reported FTEs of 970.22, 935.48 and 953.51 for 2016-2018.

•CASEVILLE

Caseville reported an unofficial count of 262 students in K-12 for 2019. Caseville reported student counts of 285, 274 and 270 over the past three years.

•ELKTON-PIGEON-BAY PORT

For Laker, the unofficial fall count for K-12 was 927, up from last year’s fall count of 921. That total would be a 1% increase. By buildings, elementary (K-5) was 424 and secondary (6-12) was 503.

“This is our fifth year with a modest increase in enrollment, which we are very thankful for. And, with our new programs and facilities, we are excited to see what the future brings,” Laker Superintendent Brian Keim said.

The prior three unofficial fall counts saw 908, 917 and 921, for a 1% increase over last year and a 2% increase from 2016.

•HARBOR BEACH

The Pirates report a total fall count of 484 students, 182 at the elementary level, 92 in middle school and 210 in high school. The previous three years showed 484, 509 and 490 fall counts, for a 1-2% difference from last year.

•NORTH HURON

The North Huron school district reports an unofficial fall count of 355 students, with 27 of those being kindergarten students. According to previous fall counts for 2016-2018, there were 450, 456 and 368 Warriors during the past three years.

•OWENDALE-GAGETOWN

For the Bulldogs last fall, the district was at 149 and this year the numbers are at a 153-student count. That would mean about a 3% increase.

“Unofficial numbers are looking like the district is up by a few students,” said Superintendent Terri Falkenberg, who added that, due to moves in and out of the district, numbers are still in flux.

Over the past three years, there were 152 to 148 students in Owendale, which would be about a 3% variance.

•UBLY

Ubly reports 622 students for the 2019 unofficial fall counts, with the preceding three years at 701, 708 and 650, for about a 4% change.

•UNIONVILLE-SEBEWAING AREA

Superintendent George Rierson reports that USA School has more students this fall than last year. The increase of 19 students from the previous count day in February 2019 and an increase from 713 in fall 2018 to 717 this fall. Kindergarten enrollment is 58 students with Grade 1 enrollment of 54, Grade 2 of 48 and Grade 3 of 47 students.

The increase at USA is about a 1% variance. (USA is part of the Tuscola Intermediate School District.)

WHY THE FALL COUNT MATTERS:

According to the Michigan Department of Education (MDE): “Michigan school districts report student information to the state three times each year. The student data is used primarily to distribute State School Aid and to manage funding programs.” (www.mischooldata.org)