KENOSHA, Wis. (Monday, Sept. 21, 2026) – The Kenosha Unified School District’s final Third Friday enrollment count is 17,029 students, down 770 from the 2025-26 Third Friday count of 17,799.
Each September, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction requires public school districts to report an enrollment headcount of students receiving primary educational services from the district on the third Friday of September. The state uses this enrollment count to determine state revenue limits, which is the amount of funding Kenosha Unified is entitled to receive from general state aid and local tax levies.
Kenosha Unified’s final enrollment is 442 students lower than the 17,471 students projected in February 2026. The decline is primarily associated with a long-term decline in birth rate, along with increased exits to non-KUSD educational programs and decreased participation in early grade-level offerings.
Since 2009, the birth rate within the KUSD boundary area has steadily declined, averaging about 500 fewer births annually than the 2008 peak of 1,953. The largest grade-level decreases occurred in third grade (-127), sixth grade (-193), and eleventh grade (-108). The eleventh-grade enrollment drop corresponds to the one-year decline in births following the 2008-09 recession.
This release includes the following data sheets: District Enrollment by School and Grade; KUSD Enrollment by Grade 2025-26 vs. 2026-27; and KUSD Enrollment by School 2025-26 vs. 2026-27.
Kenosha Unified is the fourth-largest public school district in Wisconsin, serving students in the City of Kenosha, Village of Pleasant Prairie, and the Town and Village of Somers.