Enrollment at the Haines School increased 11 students this year to 277, based partly on increased numbers of students enrolled through the local district’s homeschool program.
That’s 25 students more than the district projected last year and the highest October enrollment since 2012-13, when the district’s official October count tallied 283 students.
Participation in the homeschool has increased from 14 students last year to 23, including seven students new to the district. “We’ve had a couple completely new families participate (in the homeschool program),” said principal Rene Martin.
School board president Anne Marie Palmieri in an interview last week said she believed the district’s effort during the past two years to reach out to homeschool parents is paying off.
She said she’s heard from parents who want their homeschool students in the district. “They want their (state funding) money to come here and they’ve expressed how the attitude has improved over the years. We’ve improved communication and information going out and families are feeling they’re part of the school.”
Martin said many families are looking for a “hybrid” education model that includes formal schoolroom classes and homeschool opportunities.
The difference between the district’s projected and actual enrollment figures amounts to a bump in state funding that doesn’t arrive here until April, but knowing the additional funds are coming allows the district to spend to accommodate the additional students, Palmieri said.
In explaining the difference between projected and actual enrollment, district officials say it’s easier to know who’s leaving the district than who might be showing up. “You don’t have any idea of who’s talking about moving here. You just don’t know,” interim superintendent Rich Carlson said this week.
The school is projecting 246 students to be enrolled in October 2016, which Carlson described as “clearly a very conservative projection.” Districts throughout the state use conservative projections to prevent a situation in which they would have to return school funds to the state late in the school year, he said.
Palmieri said although this year’s senior class is a large one, the class entering the school also is large.