Kenosha Unified School District has finalized the state-mandated Third Friday enrollment count. The initial 2020-21 count shows an enrollment of 19,583 students, a decrease of -1,336 students when compared to the 2019-20 Third Friday count of 20,919.
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.
Early in 2020, KUSD was projecting a decrease of -214 students. However, several factors have contributed to a greater decrease. Most notably is the global pandemic. In Wisconsin, 4K and kindergarten are not mandatory age levels for school reporting. This year, these grades combined saw a decrease of -607 enrollments because many parents elected not to enroll their children in school at this time. Grade 5 saw a decrease of -221 students, which was predominantly due to the anticipated lower birth rate. Other factors include nearly triple the usual exits for local private school transfers and Open Enrollment Out of District requests, and at least five times the typical amount of homeschool requests when compared to this point in time in past years. The decrease of
-1,336 students equates to a -6.4% student population drop.