THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2007
Enrollment Expected To Level At 4,500
By DWIGHT ESAU
Journal Reporter
Enrollment in Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 will remain generally stable for the next decade, but will rise very slightly annually to a level of nearly 4,500 by 2015.
This is the latest assessment of district officials after they revealed their sixth-day "final" enrollment numbers this week for the 2007-08 school year.
While this year's enrollment expanded somewhat unexpectedly by about 45 students, almost all of it at one school, the actual total on the sixth day was within 1% of a professional demographer's projection made a few years earlier.
"What is actually happening now is very close to what an outside professional projected would happen," said Superintendent Sally Pryor.
Actually, the actual numbers this year are so close to the earlier projections it is almost scary. The demographer predicted 4,322 students in grades K-8 this month. The actual figure turned out to be 4,319.
This year's actual grand total of 4,358 includes 2,757 in elementary grades K-5, 1,562 in middle school grades 6-8, and 39 in special education (those with disabilities). This latter number will probably increase as more students are enrolled later.
Projections are based on estimates of fertility rates for a specified period of years and turnover of existing housing units and teardowns in Park Ridge through 2015.
The demographer's projections, made back in 2004, envision an annual enrollment growth rate of .004%, or an average of about 28 students per year, for the next seven years.
This year's total is 45 above last year in the elementary schools, and 19 fewer in the middle school grades. It mainly occurred at the kindergarten level, where a growth of 27 occurred. About half of these are attributed by officials to a surge in early entrances to kindergarten at parent's request, due to a recent liberalization of the entrance policy by district officials.