Enrollment on the South Shore

1/08 tahoe mt. news:

By Kathryn Reed

Officials at school sites throughout the South Shore monitor enrollment on a daily basis because how many students show up affects the budget.
The best news is at Lake Tahoe Community College, where numbers from fall quarter were about 10 percent higher than fall 2006. Last school year the college saw about a 7 percent overall increase, while the previous three academic years enrollment declined.
Lori Gaskin, vice president of Academic Affairs and Student Services, isn’t ready to proclaim the upturn as a trend, but she is encouraged by the numbers. She says various factors play into the increase. Part has to do with the state reducing fees in January 2007. Part is online classes growing popularity -- 600 people signed up for one last quarter.
“We have made a very aggressive effort to outreach, market and recruit. We’ve done that by going to college fairs around the state and revamping our website,” Gaskin said.
When people inquire online about the college they receive an email response and handwritten note from Gaskin.
The goal is to reach the 18- to 24-year-olds who are likely to be full-time students. Ads play on radio stations in Sacramento geared toward that age group. The college is reaching out to South Tahoe and Whittell high schools, too.
“Thirty percent of the population in this community is Hispanic. We want to reflect that on the campus. One way is to reach out to younger kids and recent high school graduates to show them that college is a viable option,” Gaskin said.
Vocational education programs are growing as well. Gaskin said a strong partnership with South Tahoe High is important in this regard.
“We want them to focus on fire science. We are hoping they put some more resources and effort to build that effort up,” Gaskin said. The college is in its second year of offering a fire academy, while the high school has a limited program.
Lake Tahoe Unified is continuing to lose students, but not at the alarming rate of recent years. The difference from October 2006 to October 2007 was 120 fewer students. However, the district ended last school year with 4,186 kids and had 4,206 last month.
“I think it’s going to be fairly flat this year,” said Superintendent Jim Tarwater of the enrollment change. “Right now we are above where we ended, which is positive.”
But he knows all too well that many families leave when it gets cold or don’t come back after the winter holidays. That reality was known as of deadline.
The district was nervous the Angora Fire would affect attendance, but only a handful of the 55 students who lost their homes have left.
One thing LTUSD and Douglas County School District have in common is a kindergarten class that surpasses last years. LTUSD has 324 kindergartners, whereas most of the first- through fifth-grade classes are in the 275 range. Neither district has a definitive reason for the increase except to point to birth rates increasing.
In Douglas County, Zephyr Cove has 31 kindergartners. That’s only nine more than a year ago, but percentage-wise it’s huge.
The Lake schools for Douglas had a projected enrollment of 528 students, but the three total 516 this school year. Zephyr Cove went from 192 last year to 180 this year, Kingsbury from 145 to 132 and Whittell from 221 to 204.
“I just think people are not able to live up there,” said Sue Estes, budget manager for DCSD. “It’s been a steady decline. I can’t tell you what would make it change.”
To reduce expenses, the district is closing Kingsbury Middle School and turning Zephyr Cove into a K-6 beginning next fall and Whittell will be 7-12.