Enrollment in the Salt Lake School District is down slightly from last year, but school officials expect an increase in students before the official headcount Oct. 1.
The enrollment, calculated Sept. 8, was listed at 24,155, down 59 students from the 1988-89 school year. But Superintendent John W. Bennion said students are still moving into the school district, and the official tally will probably equal last year's total.Overall, however, the district's enrollment has dropped dramatically since it peaked around 42,000 in 1958. Residential flight to the suburbs led to the declining student populations, and the smaller enrollment forced the Salt Lake Board of Education to close 27 schools in the last 20 years. Salt Lake is now the sixth largest school district in the state.
Enrollment stabilized in the early 1980s, but has declined slightly in the past few years. The superintendent attributes the recent decline to increasing encroachment of commercial development on the city's neighborhoods.
This year, some of the biggest declines in the elementary schools came at Franklin, which lost 55 students, and Bennion, which lost 49. Both schools went to a year-round schedule in July. Parkview, which also joined the year-round ranks, increased three.
Bennion said the declines aren't necessarily tied to the year-round schedule, although it usually takes three years of adjustment before year-round enrollment stabilizes. Students at year-round schools are given the option of attending nearby schools on a traditional schedule if the schools have room.
Enrollment is also up at the Salt Lake Homeless Shelter school, which is operated by the Salt Lake School District. The total went from 11 to 17.
Of the city's three high schools, East was the only one to lose students, down 183. The Sept. 8 enrollment was 1,760.
West gained 47 students, sending enrollment from 1,516 to 1,563. Highland also increased. The 62 new students pushed enrollment to 2,128.
Associate Superintendent Mary Jean Johnson said the district will look at the official enrollment Oct. 1 to assess any changes.
She said a few more or fewer students can involve a lot of transactions. One school had 118 changes of students moving in or out to have a net gain of 14.