Cotati-Rohnert Park "Has Experienced the Most Precipitous Fall" in Student Enrollment Countywide

The Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District lost the most kids out of any district in Sonoma County — 10 years ago there were 8,300 students enrolled in Kindergarten through 12th grade and this year that number is expected to come in at 5,791, the Press Democrat is reporting today. 

Countywide, the article stated, while overall population has increased 5.5 percent, school enrollment has fallen about 4 percent — 70,870 students are expected to enroll this year, down from 73,690 10 years ago.

Although schools continue to face massive budget cuts and state takeaways, school years are being shortened and teachers are being forced to fit the same amount of work into less classroom time, is changing.

There's a , is opening to new freshmen this year, school officials are working with the community to address declining enrollment and the City Council has plans to tackle districtwide issues together with the governing board. 

Stay tuned to Rohnert Park Patch this week, we've got some great stories planned that will bring to light some of the things being planned. But in the interim, we wanted to reach out to you, readers. 

What do you think the school district needs? Have you taken your kids out of the schools? If so, why? What programs or classes do you think your child would benefit from? What does the district need to do different?