Several Schools See Drop In Kindergarten Enrollment

Call it the year of the incredible shrinking kindergarten class.

Several school districts in Van Zandt County have reported steady or larger enrollments overall, but have noticed a big decline in the numbers of 4-to-6-year-olds.

The most drastic drop has occurred in Edgewood ISD, where the kindergarten program had just 45 on Monday compared to 77 on the first day last year.

"I don’t know what’s happening in kindergarten, but this is the smallest class that we have had come through that I can remember," EISD Superintendent Jack Shellnutt said.

However, he does have a theory.

"These would have been the babies who were conceived right after the year of 9/11. That class is nearly 30 kids below the other classes in size. It’s kind of strange," Shellnutt said.

Brandi Dyer, principal of Grand Saline Elementary School, agrees with Shellnutt.

"I carry that same philosophy about it," she said. "Our kindergarten enrollment as the (2007-2008) year went on was 95 students. This year we’ve got about 94 students in first grade.

"That was a real emotional time," Dyer said about the 12 months following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. "People were really looking at family and connecting. So it would make sense that many people had their babies then and not the following year."

Grand Saline lost so many kindergarten students this fall that the school was not able to reappoint an open kindergarten teacher position. Dyer reported 71 kindergarten students, a drop of 18 from the first day last August.

"Another possible reason is some parents may hold their child out at 5 (years of age) and start them in school at 6, maybe if they have a spring birthday," she said.

Fruitvale Elementary Principal Peggy Brumit did not have exact figures but said her kindergarten class enrollment, 24, was down slightly compared to the start of the last school year.

"We had 211 overall at the start last year and we had 216 this time, so we are up a little bit. Our pre-kindergarten is nearly at capacity, though," Brumit said, noting she had 52 total in the program for 3- and 4-year-olds.

Martins Mill Elementary Principal Suzzette Stringer said she had 24 students in two kindergarten classes.

"Kindergarten enrollment is down from last year, but it is a very small drop in each class," she said.

The school had something of the opposite nature come up, suddenly having to add a pre-kindergarten program for nine students. The district has hired Tanya Matttingly as its new pre-k teacher.

"Our school board didn’t meet until Monday. It just crept up on us in the last two weeks when kids started enrolling and we had to take care of them. It was a challenge getting a teacher and a classroom ready, but we’ve done it," Stringer said.

She said the elementary campus welcomed 253 students on Monday, including 17 in its Head Start program, which she estimated was an increase of 35 to 40 students from the start of last school year.

Martins Mill ISD Superintendent Todd Schneider said the district had 496 students on the first day, up four from the first day last year.

Grand Saline Elementary reported 288 students total, including 17 in its pre-kindergarten class and 40 split between two Head Start classes.

Administrators said they have had good, relatively smooth starts to the new school year.

"It has been a very excellent start, just seeing the kids excited," Brumit said. "We had a few crying mommas…having to leave those babies can be difficult for some of them."

Brumit added that a sewer problem at Hallie Randall Elementary was being worked on. "We had some students who had to use the bathrooms in the hallways instead of the ones in their classrooms, but other than that, we’ve had a good start to the year," she said.

Shellnutt said he had a few students who got aboard the wrong school bus Monday afternoon, but "we got it straightened out at the bus barn that afternoon." He said a parent picked up two of the children and the other two were driven home.

Dyer said she had a few crying children on the first day Monday. "They are working their way into school, though, and getting better every day," she said.

Grand Saline Elementary normally starts each school day with a morning assembly that includes pledges, anthems and a moment of silence, along with student achievement recognitions.

"The students are really enjoying that," Dyer said. "We sing two fun songs at the end of the assembly to help the kids get into an upbeat mood."