Illinois Valley Times

Minooka Community School District Superintendent Dr. Kris Monn discussed changing enrollment levels in the district at a recent board meeting.

Monn went over enrollment data for the 2022-2023 school year at the Nov. 21 meeting that was live-streamed on YouTube.

“The big difference is in new enrollments in the primary grades, and that's kind of what we've been seeing with the registrations,” Monn said. “But tracking the cohorts really, really plays it out. So again, there's no action for you to do with this, but it just shows you that as we project forward, we've still got some higher numbers in our upper grade level, still over 500 students and nearing 500 in our top four grade levels. But we have to wait to see if we see the growth come back in those primary grades. If more people choose to reenter the public school system as they progress into second or third grade, or if this becomes the new normal.”

Monn talked about enrollment at each of the district’s buildings with Aux Sable being one of the few schools which didn't see much difference, down roughly 30 students total, but coming back after the pandemic. He explained most of the other schools were facing a drop of around 50 or more students, with cohorts staying fairly close to what they were pre-pandemic, but with incoming cohorts much smaller than the averages in the past. The district is down about 350 students overall.

The district isn’t expecting a big change in enrollment despite developments happening around the area, as there is not a huge demand for new housing or family homes. It is benefiting from construction-related development fees and taxes. 

Monn explained that while there has been a noticeable shift in public enrollment across the country, it is difficult to determine how it will change in the near future.