Total PK-12 Enrollment at Hudson Tops 900

When considering preschool through twelfth grade enrollment, the district is currently serving 895 students. Factoring in dual enrolled and part time students, enrollment tops 900. For the purposes of this article, our discussion will focus largely on K-12 full time students. This due to the fact that full time K-12 students are the primary driver for budgeting and funding purposes

Our certified enrollment number is up approximately 11 students from last year (footnote 1). Certified enrollment in Iowa public school districts is the sum total of resident students in the school district. The basic calculation is the number of resident students attending in the local district, plus the number of resident students attending another public school district. The BEDS count on the other hand considers students who are served in the school district. The basic calculation here is resident students attending our school district, plus those who are open enrolled into Hudson. In this case, there is a net increase of 15 students over last year from 822 to 837, or a 2% enrollment increase. Our official numbers track very closely to our projection from one year ago, which suggested enrollment would be 839.

The number of students open enrolling out of Hudson has also increased from 60 to 66 with just over half choosing Cedar Falls 34 (footnote 2). However, the number of students open enrolling into online academies is second, with 14 students spread over 3 schools. There are 183 students open enrolling into Hudson, compared to 172 from a year ago. Waterloo continues to lead, with 130 students open enrolling into Hudson, up from 111 a year ago. A new data set to report this year includes resident students taking advantage of the ESA program. Our data suggests 4 students taking advantage of this program (footnote 3). The primary takeaway is that a net positive of 117 students (those open enrolled in minus those open enrolled out) is a very good sign for the district. 

We had 32 students who were enrolled last year but have subsequently transferred out or moved to another school district. This compares to 28 students who moved out last year and would suggest a more transient population of learners. 

Our first-grade class remains the largest at 87 students, compared to 91 one year ago. This 4 section grade level can be attributed to the influx of open enrolled students from one year ago. A deliberate decision was made this year to cap enrollment, not so much due to a perceived ‘space’ issue; our elementary building has the capacity to accommodate the added sections-but personnel limitations. Adding another section of kindergarten for example, would not only have necessitated the addition of another classroom teacher, but would have required additional sections of physical education, music, and art. Iowa is currently experiencing a labor shortage in the education sector and confidence remains low in our ability to hire additional personnel, particularly when some of those personnel would fill part time positions. It is also worth noting that 21 students applied for open enrollment into Hudson and were denied.

Enrollment projections are calculated based on a cohort methodology that uses a five year rolling average to determine kindergarten size. Over the last 5 years, the kindergarten has averaged 64 students; while in the last 10 years it has averaged 59. Based on both residential enrollment growth coupled with open enrollment, a projection of 64 seems to be right particularly since open enrollment from Waterloo is not anticipated to drop off. With this methodology, estimates from prior years are left static since there is no algorithm to accurately predict transfers in or out of the district. If these projections were come to fruition, we will reach our high-water mark of 865 (K-12) in 2029-2030. Previous attempts have been made to account for residential growth, and assuming 1.9 children per household evenly distributed could push K-12 enrollment into the mid 950 range by 2028-2029. However, I would exercise extreme caution when making this assumption and at the same time understand potential enrollment growth could be significant. You can read the full report here. 

Note 1: We use the term 'approximately' because of what are known as 'fractional' students. When it comes to supplementary weighting, preschool students, students who are part time, and students who are served in our English Language Learner Program; these students carry an additional weight factor. 

Note 2: Fifteen percent of students open enrolling into Cedar Falls from Hudson have a physical address of 700 W. Ridgeway, which is a neighborhood on the northern border of our district—geographically located within the city limits of Cedar Falls. 

Note 3: At the writing of this summary, the validity of those participating in the ESA program remains suspect. Those data ‘flow into’ our SRI system from other reporting agencies and there is no real way to determine whether or not all of those students have been captured. It can be anticipated this reporting process will strengthen over time, allowing a more accurate depiction of ESA students.