Second-graders at Mt. Comfort Elementary School get ready for class in August. The school is part of Mt. Vernon Community School Corporation, which now has the most students of Hancock County’s four public school districts.
HANCOCK COUNTY — School corporations’ annual fall headcounts reflect a shift in enrollment: Mt. Vernon has surpassed Greenfield-Central as the largest district in the county.
The change helps illustrate an ongoing trend in the quickly growing western and northwestern parts of the county, and is in line with demographic predictions Mt. Vernon made years ago.
Called average daily membership, or ADM, the K-12 count is conducted every September and February and is used along with other factors to determine how much funding schools receive from the state. All of Hancock County’s school corporations saw increases from last fall, although none as high as Mt. Vernon’s jump of 150.
Mt. Vernon’s total in mid-September was 4,452, nearly 100 more than Greenfield-Central’s 4,357.
The Fortville-based school corporation with facilities also in McCordsville and Mt. Comfort commissioned a demographic study in late 2018 that projected it would grow by about 150 students a year for the next decade, hitting a total of about 6,000 by the 2029-2030 school year.
Chris Smedley, Mt. Vernon’s assistant superintendent, said the school corporation is slightly under that projection likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He noted that last fall, Mt. Vernon’s net gain from the year before was 100 students.
“So we’re back on track now, and based on what we’ve seen in recent years as well as what we have going on around us, we expect to continue to grow as the demographer predicted,” Smedley said.
Mt. Vernon continues to carry out its growth plan in light of those predictions. Estimated at about $84 million, the plan calls for building a new elementary school; expanding Fortville Elementary School and turning it back into an intermediate school; improving traffic flow at the corporation’s main Fortville campus; and building a new transportation center.
The growth also prompts immediate adaptations, Smedley said, like hiring more staff. He added that the school corporation recently added nine new teachers and several learning specialists.
Harold Olin, Greenfield-Central’s superintendent, said the school corporation’s latest total is up slightly from last fall’s. He thinks it’s because some students have returned after pursuing at-home education outside of the program G-C offered during last school year at the height of the pandemic.
Olin added the school corporation continues to see a trend of cohorts in younger grades that are much smaller than those at the junior high and high school. He noted that it’s not uncommon for younger kids to be home-schooled or attend private school before enrolling in a public school around sixth grade.
“We continue to grow our cohorts in the middle,” Olin said.
Southern Hancock tallied 3,651 students, up 13 from last fall. Lisa Lantrip, superintendent of the New Palestine-based school district, referred to the growing number of houses under construction in and around town.
“However, that has yet to translate to an increase in our enrollment,” she added. “We anticipate an enrollment increase over time as our community expands, but that growth isn’t here yet.”
Wes Anderson, Southern Hancock’s director of school and community relations, noted the school corporation is in the middle of executing a long-term growth plan that includes New Palestine High School’s renovation and New Palestine Junior High School’s previously completed renovation.
Eastern Hancock’s total was 1,151, up 14 from last fall, superintendent George Philhower said.
“We’re always happy to get closer to our capacity,” he added. “We have a growing number of transfer kids who choose Eastern Hancock every year, and we’re excited about that.”
He said parents and children may be drawn to the school district’s size and the advantage it can provide for meeting students’ needs.
“I think sometimes being small gives us a unique advantage,” he said.
Philhower noted Eastern Hancock’s student population was 1,215 in 2017 before dropping to 1,183 in 2019.
“So we’re getting back close to where we were in our enrollment,” he said.
He added the school corporation is nearing capacity in several grade levels, especially at the elementary school.
“If we hit that capacity, we would stop accepting transfer students,” he said.
Student populations by the numbers
Mt. Vernon 4,452
Greenfield-Central 4,357
Southern Hancock 3,651
Eastern Hancock 1,151
