HANCOCK COUNTY — Mt. Vernon is the only school district in the county to report an enrollment increase at the beginning of the 2020-2021 academic year.
If current trends continue, it won’t be long before it could surpass Greenfield-Central, which for decades has been the largest district in the county. At a total of 4,330, G-C kept that spot when school corporations recently submitted their student counts, also called average daily membership, to the Indiana Department of Education. Mt. Vernon was close behind at 4,310. Southern Hancock schools reported 3,638, and Eastern Hancock tallied 1,136.
The figures, which are closely watched because they are tied to school funding, are tentative and could fluctuate as districts finalize their counts with the state. Another tally occurs every year in February.
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Here is a district-by-district look at enrollment.
Mt. Vernon
The Mt. Vernon district is in western and northwestern Hancock County, one of the fastest-growing areas in the state. Jack Parker, the corporation’s superintendent, said the enrollment total is about 100 more than last year. He would’ve expected more had it not been for the pandemic.
“I believe that the faith that our community has in our schools and our teachers and those who support our teachers is heartening, and even during these difficult times, when it’s challenging for everybody — our families, our students and of course our teachers,” Parker said. “We’re really pulling together, and I feel that faith is one of the reasons that our enrollment is up during this pandemic, and I’m very, very appreciative of that.”
The district’s growth comes despite being down about 40 kindergarten students. Mt. Vernon has 23 fewer transfer students as well.
“Our resident enrollment is really what is up, and we’re very happy to see that,” Parker said.
The district gets $6,611 per student from the state.
Mt. Vernon’s expected growth over the next decade drove a months-long process that resulted in the adoption of a growth plan this year and has led to discussions about buying land for a new school.
“We still have space for these students,” Parker said. “We’re not looking for additional space yet, but the trajectory we’re on… will likely see us adding space — classroom space specifically — in the coming years as we continue to grow.”
Greenfield-Central
Harold Olin, Greenfield-Central superintendent, said the district’s enrollment is down about 90 from last year.
“Every school corporation wants to see their numbers maintaining or growing,” he said. “…It’s always a little disconcerting to see numbers decreasing.”
The biggest portion of the drop is due to an incoming kindergarten class of 301 after graduating about 360 high school students this summer, Olin said.
Schools’ cohorts in kindergarten through fifth grade are smaller, he continued, ranging from 295 to 313, while those in sixth through 12th grade range from 342 to 385.
There are more private options for K-5 students, Olin said, adding parents often switch their children to public schools for their middle and high school years.
He also said Greenfield has fewer adults age 25 to 39 than it did 10 years ago.
“That’s something that’s a little perplexing for us,” Olin said. But efforts have been ongoing among the school corporation, city and companies like Hancock Health and NineStar Connect to attract younger families to the city, he added.
Greenfield-Central has 226 students who have transferred in for the 2020-21 school year, but the corporation won’t know how many transferred out until the department of education runs a report in November. For the 2019-20 school year, G-C had 475 students transfer out and 227 in for a net loss of 248. Olin said Greenfield suffers from “county seat syndrome” and that it’s not uncommon for central Indiana schools in county seats to lose more students than they add through the transfer option.
As an unprecedented school year amid the COVID-19 pandemic continues, he’s optimistic toward the future.
“We’re going to be fine,” he said. “I think we continue to do a good job both on site and in that virtual environment, and I think families see that.”
The district gets a foundation amount of roughly $5,800 per student, but the final amount varies based on students’ needs, Olin said.
To adapt to the decrease in funding, he said the corporation will assess itself and its positions and make adjustments if necessary.
“But we’re not panicking by any means,” he said.
Southern Hancock
The student census for Southern Hancock schools shows a decrease of about 60, which also includes a smaller number of incoming kindergartners than the summer’s graduation class.
Wes Anderson, the district’s spokesman, attributed part of the reduction to parents’ desire to home school because of the pandemic.
“I think there’s some hope that whenever COVID goes away, those kids are going to come back to us,” he said.
Anderson added the dip amounts to about $400,000 less than what the district got last year and follows two years of fairly flat enrollment.
“A drop in enrollment is never a good thing from a financial perspective, because the money follows the kid,” Anderson said. “A drop in enrollment means a drop in our budget as well, which is always concerning.”
The school corporation didn’t replace a couple of teaching positions going into this year in order to help keep the budget in line.
“It’s just a year-to-year thing, and those years where enrollment goes down, you’ll see things like class sizes go up,” Anderson said.
The number of new houses going up in southwestern Hancock County is promising, however, he continued.
“We know those students are coming,” he said.
He also said the school corporation has been keeping an eye on the new houses in the area and noticing that many of Southern Hancock’s out-of-district families are moving in.
The corporation is waiting on exact transfer figures, but Anderson thinks Indiana’s been an open-enrollment state for long enough that schools are leveling off in that regard.
“I don’t think you’re seeing a lot of districts having huge influxes of transfers anymore,” he said. “I think we did the first five or six years.”
Eastern Hancock
The smallest district in the county, Eastern Hancock, saw its enrollment drop, too.
Thirty-five students have withdrawn to do home-schooling because of the pandemic, Superintendent Dave Pfaff said.
“We think this is a temporary dip that will come back as COVID gets in our rear-view mirror a little bit,” he added.
The district also graduated 106 students this summer and drew an incoming kindergarten class of 70.
“This is not uncommon here in the last 10 years,” Pfaff said. “Each class’s size tends to grow as it moves through the grades as more students enter though the transfer tuition process.”
Additionally, Eastern Hancock has added 62 new students since the end of the 2019-20 school year.
The school corporation gets just under $6,000 per student from the state.
“We’re looking for ways to be efficient and we’re not going to do anything drastic as far as reducing staff; that’s not at all in the game plan,” Pfaff said. “We’re just trying to be careful because we figured enrollment would be down a little bit.”
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Sept. 18 school corporation average daily membership count
Greenfield-Central 4,330
Mt. Vernon 4,310
Southern Hancock 3,638
Eastern Hancock 1,136
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