During a recent Decatur school board work session, Superintendent David Dude gave a preview of K-12 enrollment projections over the next five years. Several months ago Dude formed an enrollment projections committee, whose complete report is scheduled for presentation during the June 11 board meeting.
But the initial numbers show that City Schools Decatur’s K-12 enrollment could increase by as much as 34.5 percent by the 2022-23 school year.
The district’s most recent official count, as of last October, is 5,317 students, a 5.5 percent increase over 2016-17, and a more than doubling over 2,473 in 2015-2016.
Dude’s preview numbers range from low- to medium- to high-range projections based on a number of factors ranging from, among others, new development, re-development and annexation.
Low-end is 5,858 or a 10.2 percent growth, medium is 6477 or 21.8 percent growth and high is 7,156, or 34.5 percent.
CSD is in the preliminary stages of building a new 3-5 school on Talley Street, the final project paid for by the $75 million general obligation bond passed by voters in Nov. 2015. Planning for another building cycle, which depends heavily on new projections, should begin next fall.
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