Over the past couple of months, District 51 has been engaged in various planning and budgetary discussions regarding
the declining enrollment in the district due in part to the COVID-19 Pandemic and other demographic factors
affecting birth rates and school populations. During a January Board meeting, Shannon Bingham, who serves as our
demographer, presented an overview of our current student enrollment numbers and where those numbers are
projected to head in the coming years. This topic has been front and center in the state and national media as
of late, as the trend of declining student enrollment is a reality across the country. A
report released by CDE
in January noted that the state of Colorado is down over 3,000 students this year compared to last year, and we
are down over 1,300 students since the 2018/2019 school year. Following the research that has been presented by
the district’s demographer, D51 is proactively considering various strategies to address our
district’s enrollment numbers.
OUR
PATH FORWARD
As
we explore options for Creating a Sustainable D51,
we encourage our community to actively engage and participate in conversations surrounding this issue. As our
enrollment continues to decline, it leads to inefficient and unsustainable staffing, difficulties with providing
adequate services for students, such as special education services and multiple course offerings,
underutilization of facilities, and increased safety risks. This topic ties in with our Strategic Plan Focus
Areas of having Prepared and Supported Students & Staff and our Strategic Plan Priority Area of modeling
Transparent & Effective Resource Allocation.
Follow along for the latest news, updates, and information regarding the process and where we are at.
Key Issues Regarding this Topic
Click on the elements below to learn more about each topic.
Latest News, Updates, and Resources
In seeking community involvement and input regarding this process, District 51 hosted two community town hall
meetings during the first week of February to share information with our stakeholders regarding declining
enrollment. Following those town hall meetings, our demographer presented to the Board of Education on Tuesday,
February 7th to discuss initial survey data collected from the two community surveys that were sent out.
The first survey was a general enrollment survey and addressed declining enrollment and strategic options for
addressing the issue, re: replacing old buildings and combining smaller programs. The second survey focused on the
grade configuration of our Fruita area schools. The surveys were closed on Thursday, February 9th, after receiving
nearly 4,000 surveys between the two options.
Data Collection
from D51 Enrollment & Fruita School Configuration Surveys
