San Juan Unified expects a slight drop in enrollment this year, with district officials projecting about 300 fewer students than last year.
The drop was much greater: 1,200 fewer students enrolled.
San Juan Unified in Sacramento County is the seventh largest school district in California, with approximately 50,000 students.
The decline, reported by Abbreviated, a local PBS outletmay be due to a decrease in the number of new immigrant students. San Juan Unified had previously enrolled many refugee students from other countries, which had partially countered the overall student population decline that many districts have experienced. The number of new immigrant students has declined statewide as fewer people cross the border or enter the country on visas.
“That said, we are still analyzing this year’s enrollment decline to better understand all the factors involved, particularly why the decline was greater than expected,” district spokesperson Raj Rai told Abridged. “I don’t want to attribute the complete change to a single factor while this work is still in progress.”
Declining enrollment could cost the district as much as $3.7 million in revenue this school year, according to Rai.
This story was originally published by EdSource.
