Enrollment totals from 2025-2026 to 2026-2027 are trending down some, with 11.4 less students. For the first time ever, Iowa will have a second enrollment count date. Enrollment numbers will again be processed on January 15th. District numbers from October and January will be averaged to determine final district enrollment numbers.

Each student has a different enrollment weighting. Most students carry a 1.0 weighting. However, students who dual-enroll for our Home School Assistance Program (HSAP) carry a .3 or .4 weighting. Another example is Special Education students who may carry a higher than 1.0 weighting. Each weight is calculated from the state set District Cost Per Pupil (DCPP). That number is $7,988 for this school year, so each 1.0 students brings with them $7,988 in state funding. A HSAP student with a .3 weighting brings in about $2,396 which is .3 of $7,988. Therefore when all of the students' FTE is added up it can end up being a fraction of 1.0.

Think of Certified Enrollment as primarily a measure of where students live, rather than necessarily where they attend school. Certified Enrollment begins with students who reside within the geographic boundaries of the Roland-Story Community School District. Iowa's school-funding rules then apply various calculations and weightings for things such as preschool, special education, and Home School Assistance Program (HSAP) participation.

Certified Enrollment is a major factor in determining how much funding our district receives. For perspective, Roland-Story's Certified Enrollment declined from 1,002 in the fall of 2025 to 967 this year, a decrease of 35 students. That's a significant change, particularly when you consider the financial implications associated with each student.

However, Certified Enrollment doesn't necessarily tell us how many students are actually sitting in our classrooms each day. That's where another important number comes into play: Served enrollment.

This is the number most people are probably thinking about when they hear the word enrollment. Schools sometimes refer to it as our "butts in seats" number. 

Served Enrollment more closely reflects the students our district is actually responsible for educating. It starts with resident students attending Roland-Story and then accounts for students who come into our district or leave through open enrollment. It can also account for students served through tuition arrangements, whole-grade sharing, and certain part-time educational services.

In other words, Served Enrollment helps paint a clearer picture of the school system we operate every day: the classrooms we staff, the buildings we maintain, the programs we provide, and the students our employees serve.

This is one of the most encouraging parts of our enrollment story.

Currently, we have:

• 158 students who live outside our district boundaries but choose to attend Roland-Story.

• 73 students who live within our district boundaries but choose to attend another school district.

• +85 students in net open enrollment for Roland-Story.

That means we are educating 85 more students through open enrollment than we are losing to other districts. In fact, our historical net open-enrollment advantage accounts for roughly 7–8% of the students we educate. 

Here's another interesting way to look at it: Among students moving between Roland-Story and other public school districts through open enrollment, approximately 68% are choosing Roland-Story rather than leaving it. In today's increasingly competitive educational environment, that's something our district and communities can take pride in!

This is where the distinction between the two numbers becomes especially important.

Our resident student population has hovered around 1,000 for several years, but we are now seeing signs of decline rather than significant organic growth. This could be due to a number of different factors including:

• Smaller family units

• A need for available family housing

• Decrease of student enrollment statewide as Iowa is currently declining 4,000-5,000 students a year.

Other factors not listed may contribute as well, so district leadership will need to look further into this issue for future enrollment projections.

This is an important question, and one we spend considerable time discussing. Enrollment is a major component of school funding as it helps build our General Fund, which is used to pay for our staff.  A decline in resident enrollment for 3-5 years in a row, will create significant financial challenges for the district. We cannot simply rely on open-enrollment numbers to steady our enrollment, as open-enrollment numbers fluctuate yearly due to a number of factors within a statewide school choice environment. 

That's what makes school budgeting and long-term enrollment projections particularly challenging. We have to be thoughtful about staffing, facilities, programming, and financial planning while recognizing that our responsibility to provide an excellent education doesn't decrease simply because a funding number does.

We do not feel like we are in a position to have to enact any significant budget cuts at this time. A decrease of 11.4  is not a significant enough number of students to decrease the number of classrooms, teachers, bus routes, educational programs, and support services to educate the students attending Roland-Story.  

However, with the enrollment projections available and other data available to the district, we will need to keep a watchful eye on our spending and have thoughtful conversations around any changes to general fund spending.

That's a fair question, and one I think is important to address.

It's easy to look at declining enrollment numbers and assume that we should pump the brakes on facility improvements. After all, if we have fewer students living within our district boundaries, shouldn't we be spending less money on our buildings?

I would like an alternative way to think about that thought process.

We continue to educate a relatively steady number of students, and every one of those students deserves a safe, modern, and well-maintained learning environment. The reality is that our middle school and high school campus has significant facility needs that cannot simply be ignored or postponed indefinitely. I firmly believe the improvements we are considering as part of our proposed bond are not about creating a wish list of things we'd like to have, but rather addressing the things we need to provide a quality educational experience for our students, protect our community's investment, and position Roland-Story for the future. Delaying necessary improvements doesn't make those needs disappear. In many cases, it simply makes them more expensive down the road.

But there's another important piece to this conversation that sometimes gets overlooked. 

Our facilities aren't just a reflection of where we've been. They're an investment in where we want to go.

In an era when families have more educational choices than ever before, our facilities, programs, and learning environments all play a role in how families perceive our district. While we certainly don't believe that shiny new buildings are what make a great school (our people will always be our greatest asset), the condition and functionality of our facilities matter.

We can't talk about attracting and retaining students, keeping and recruiting outstanding teachers, expanding educational opportunities, and preparing students for their futures while ignoring the spaces in which all of that learning takes place.

I firmly believe that slightly declining enrollment should make us more strategic about investing in our facilities, not automatically less willing to invest.

Ultimately, we have a responsibility to take care of what our communities have already invested in, while also making sure Roland-Story remains a place families want to choose for generations to come. Because the goal isn't simply to maintain the schools we have today. It's to ensure we have schools worth choosing tomorrow.

Our challenge moving forward is really twofold.

First, we must plan responsibly and proactively for the possibility of continued declines in our resident student population. That means making thoughtful financial general fund decisions, closely monitoring enrollment trends, and ensuring we are positioning the district for long-term sustainability.

Second, we must continue making Roland-Story a place families want to choose, whether they live within our district boundaries or beyond them. That means strengthening our partnerships with our communities, exploring innovative educational programming, retaining and recruiting outstanding employees, and continuing to provide the experiences and opportunities that make Roland-Story special.

There isn't one magic solution or silver bullet. It will take a collective effort, thoughtful planning, and a continued commitment to excellence.

If there's one thing I hope people understand, it's that our enrollment story is about more than whether a number goes up or down.

Certified Enrollment tells us something important about our resident population and the financial realities we face. Served Enrollment tells us something important about the students we educate and the school system we must support. And open enrollment tells us something else entirely: how Roland-Story is performing in an educational environment where Iowa families have more choices than ever before.

Behind every enrollment statistic is something much more important than a number. It's a family making a choice about where they believe their child will have the best opportunity to succeed. The reality is that enrollment is no longer simply something that happens to school districts. Whether we like it or not, it's something we have to earn.

Our responsibility is to be good stewards of our resources while continuing to make Roland-Story a district that students, families, employees, and communities are proud to call their own.

And that's a responsibility worth embracing.