The school districts showing the biggest drops in enrollment this year are, for the most part, in rural, non-metropolitan areas, according to Virginia Department of Education data shared by Bacon’s Rebellion reader Jim Weigand.
Ironically, the same can be said of the school districts showing gains in the face of statewide trends.
View Jim’s spreadsheet here.
If any of our armchair analysts want to hazard a guess as to what’s going on here, please weigh in.
— JAB
(comments below)
(comments below)
The spreadsheet is more complete, especially with regard to urban districts with show thousands but on a percent basis – not as high as some rural.
My guess is that these kids still exist and have not moved… they’re just delinquent.
My question is are the schools doing what they normally do in identifying school age kids that are not in school?
Yes, yes, once again the terrible freedom-taking force of government, normally seeks out kids who should be in school and FORCES their parents to comply and the kids to attend – against their apparent will!
Maybe the big drop in Richmond City was kids taking classes that “teach CRT”?
This spreadsheet is 100% winning. The more people disenroll from government indoc centers, the better off society will be long term. Short term let’s get some school vouchers for K-12 in VA.
Perhaps a lot of people are moving to Giles County and the City of Radford.
Have you ever been to Giles County? I have, know a few from there.
I have explored Giles County extensively by motorcycle. It has some fabulous twisty roads. It’s beautiful country and I can definitely understand why people would want to move there. In the past I considered retiring there.
Formal schooling equals “whiteness”. Hopefully these kids aren’t burdening themselves with the “whiteness” our racist (just look at the numbers of BIPOC kids they have failed) Department of Education is pushing on them and are out gaining a “real world” education from their elders.
What about homeschooling? Uptick? In these communities, I would suspect that parents, without a school choice option, chose homeschooling instead.
So if folks homeschool, are they supposed to let the school system know so the school system can account for them?
Yes. Public school divisions are expected to keep up with them.
https://www.doe.virginia.gov/statistics_reports/enrollment/home_school_religious_exempt/
Have you got an explanation for all these losses?
I think about a third of the missing students have shown up as home schooled/religious exemptions.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MP-heVJnaO9hoYh8ytpAdXat1Vtd6kgU/edit?usp=sharing&rtpof=true&sd=true
The Pre-K and Kindergarten enrollments have dropped pretty sharply (9% and 6% respectively). Kids in these grades are not subject to mandatory school attendance. I see help wanted signs everywhere I go, and I suspect that some parents may be keeping them out of school. There’s obviously fewer folks working today.
The overall state enrollment dropped in 2019- pre-Covid. Some of this could simply be natural declines brought on by aging state demographics. Who knows in the end.
Which, of course, is virtually meaningless in the absence of households entering and leaving the districts. Very few K-12 children live alone.
Maybe, if you can get these to load properly (I can’t) you can get a more complete picture.
https://demographics.coopercenter.org/school-age-population-estimates/?q=demographics/school-age-population-estimates
Estimate Highland had 244 kids in 2019 and 242 in 2020, so clearly the drop in enrollment is not because of population shift. Too bad 2021 estimates aren’t available.
In the case of my family it is private school for this year.
Don’t we need to add that in to see what is going on?
How much you want to bet that the state portion of the school budget will be based on 2019 enrollment numbers again?
If my children were still in school I would be pulling them out because of the transgender students using the locker rooms and bathrooms of their choice. I wouldn’t want my children getting sex education that way. Plus its already been proven its not safe.
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