The Kenosha Unified School District has finalized the state-mandated Third Friday enrollment count. The initial count shows an enrollment of 19,187 students, a decrease of 433 students when compared to the 2021-22 Third Friday count of 19,620.
Each September, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction requires districts to gather and report an enrollment headcount of students receiving primary educational services from the district on the third Friday of September. This number is used by the state to determine state revenue limits, which is the amount of funding KUSD is entitled to receive from general state aid and local tax levies.
Initially, KUSD was projecting a decrease of 552 students, as indicated in the February Board report. This large decrease was expected based on multiple factors, but mainly the decreasing birth rate. Since 2009, the greater KUSD boundary area has experienced a decreased birth rate, now averaging approximately 500 less children born each year compared to a high of 1,953 births in 2008.
The largest grade level decreases occurred at the second (-125) and seventh (-139) grades. The seventh grade decrease is due to the 2008-09 recession and severe one-year drop in subsequent births.
Note: Whittier Elementary shows a decrease of 146 students, which aligns with the movement of the virtual program from Whittier in 2021-22 to the Kenosha eSchool for the 2022-23 school year.