Enrollment drops again in Iowa’s public schools

Statewide enrollment in Iowa’s public schools is down for the fourth year in a row. Seventy percent of Iowa’s public school districts had fewer students enroll this fall. Iowa Department of Education director Ted Stilwell says all signs indicate the trend will continue.Just under half-a-million kids are attending Iowa’s public K-through-12 schools. Stilwell says unless there’s significant in-migration from other states and other countries, Iowa school enrollment will continue to decline.Stilwell says Iowa’s birth rate remains very low and that won’t change as the population of women at childbearing age has declined.Suburban schools in the Des Moines area saw the biggest enrollment gains, while Council Bluffs and Davenport had the largest losses. The greatest percentage enrollment losses, though, occurred in districts with less than one thousand students.Here’s some of the individual statistics: Council Bluffs, down 485 students; Davenport, down 332 students; Burlington, down 158 students; Clinton, down 148 students; Fort Dodge, down 144 students; Ames, down 112 students; Keokuk, down 104 students; Waukee, up 301 students; Johnston, up 170 students; Ankeny, up 143 students; College Community in Cedar Rapids, up 127; Des Moines, up 124 students; Linn-Mar, up 118 students; Southeast Polk, up 104 students.