Enrollment In District 196 No Longer Growing

ROSEMOUNT, MN — Student enrollment at Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Schools has not grown like pre-COVID-19 projections had shown, according to District 196.

The district's enrollment hit an all-time high of 29,223 students in 2019. In 2020, right before the pandemic, a study projected the district to gain 3,000 additional students by 2030.

Total enrollment has stabilized, but not grown, in the aftermath of the pandemic:

• 2020: 29,008
• 2021: 29,086
• 2022: 29,047

At a recent school board meeting, finance and operations director Mark Stotts said the student population dipped in large part because of the shrinking size of the incoming kindergarten classes.

On Oct. 3, there were 1,802 kindergarten students in the district. The other elementary grade levels have about 2,000 students in each class, according to Stotts.

Stotts pointed to a similar phenomenon at the district middle schools, where there is a smaller incoming class of sixth graders compared to the class of eighth graders.

Here are the district's enrollment totals, which were recorded on Oct. 3:

• 11,865 elementary school students
  • Down 103 students from 2021
• 6,318 middle school students (grades six through eight)
  • Down 119 from 2021
• 9,170 high school students (grades nine through twelve)
  • Up 20 from 2021
• 1,214 students in special education programs
  • Up 129 from 2021
• 480 students in early childhood special education
  • Up 34 students from 2021

"Right now, we are significantly below the projections," Stotts said.

"We are hoping the pandemic effect eventually goes back to normal and we will see that growth return, but time will tell."