Tampa Bay's gains and losses in the pandemic school enrollment shuffle
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COVID has wreaked havoc on virtually every aspect of America's public schools. Now parents are pulling their kids out of the system altogether, Axios' Erin Doherty writes.
Why it matters: With school funding directly tied to enrollment, experts warn the decline will have deep repercussions for individual districts.
Zoom in: Enrollment in Florida's public schools declined less than 1% since the start of the pandemic, per a national survey by the American Enterprise Institute and the College Crisis Initiative at Davidson College.
- Pinellas County enrollment declined nearly 5%.
Driving the news: Parents are looking for a safer, more stable environment for their children, said Thomas Dee, a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Education.
- The uncertainty of schooling pushed some parents to send their children to private or parochial schools, while others opted for home-schooling.
- Other parents delayed their child starting kindergarten, Dee said. The study found that kindergarten enrollment in the most remote districts was hit the hardest, losing 8.1% of kids enrolling.
Yes, but: Districts that offered in-person learning, like most of Tampa Bay, were more likely to experience an enrollment rebound than schools that stayed virtual.
- Pasco County enrollment grew by 6% and Polk by nearly 3%. Other Tampa Bay counties had gains of less than 1%.
By the numbers: Districts in the country with the most remote classes lost 4% of their students, compared to a 1% drop for those that held school in person, according to the survey.
- Kindergarten enrollment was down 8% in districts with the most remote learning vs. a 2% drop for those with in-person schooling.
What they're saying: "Across the country, public school enrollments fell like never before over the past two years," Nat Malkus, deputy director of education policy at the American Enterprise Institute, tells Axios.
- "This is pandemic fallout on a huge scale. Changing schools is a fundamental, life-altering decision for families, and these enrollment shifts represent millions of hard decisions."
- Dee said schools will have to plan for enrollment drops as "the new normal" as long as the pandemic persists.