Des Moines Schools Enrollment Increases, Tops 33,000

DES MOINES, IA — Enrollment in the Des Moines school district increased by 78 students this year over the previous year, a trend that has held true for eight of the past nine years. Certified enrollment in the 2017-18 school year is 33,057, the district reports.

District officials said certified enrollment for the current school year is 2,274 higher than 10 school years ago, or an increase of 7.4 percent over the past decade. Certified enrollment last year was 32,979.

Public schools receive much of their state funding based on the district’s certified enrollment numbers.

The Des Moines district also reported that in the current year, slightly more than 60 percent of the K-12 students represent minorities, 20 percent are English Language Learners, and nearly 60 percent qualify for free or reduced-price meals.

Comparing K-12 enrollment to the previous school year, the district found:

• Students qualifying for free and reduced-price meals rose by 2.8 percent, from 70.3 percent
• The number of English Language Learners is down 0.3 percent from 21 percent
• The percentage of special education students increased 0.8 percent from 13.7 percent to 14.5 percent

The district also saw a slight change in students' ethnicities and reported the following district makeup:

• Caucasian: down 1.2 percent from 40.4 percent to 39.2 percent
• Hispanic: up 0.4 percent from 25.7 percent to 26.1 percent
• African American: up 0.6 percent from 18.8 percent to 19.4 percent
• Asian: up 0.2 percent from 7.8 percent to 8 percent
• Multi-racial: unchanged at 6.5 percent
• Native American: down 0.1 percent from 0.5 percent to 0.4 percent
• Pacific Islander: unchanged at 0.2 percent

The annual enrollment report can be downloaded from the district website.

Image via Des Moines schools