The Cutter Morning Star School District experienced the greatest percentage change in enrollment this year among area districts in the last 14 years and others continued steady growth, but enrollment for the Hot Springs School District tumbled.
Cutter Morning Star's enrollment increased by 53 students, 9 percent, for the current school year. The new enrollment of 635 students is the district's greatest since 2010.
The Arkansas Department of Education posted the official numbers this week for the 2017-18 school year on its online Statewide Information System Reports. The ADE's Data Center includes numbers from the 2004-05 school year to the present. Updated enrollment totals for individual schools have not yet been posted.
Cutter Morning Star's growth was the most significant increase or decrease for any district in the area since at least 2004. The district's previous most significant change during the designated time frame was 2010 when enrollment declined by 47 students, 6.88 percent, from 687.
The district averaged between 670 students to 704 students between 2004-2009. Enrollment averaged between 582-616 between 2011-2016.
Voters approved an increase of 8.4 debt service mills and an extension of 15.5 existing mills for 12 additional years in September to fund $18 million in construction and improvement projects on campus. A new high school and basketball arena is estimated to cost almost $14.5 million and will replace the current high school and gymnasium built in 1960 and 1969, respectively.
The increase and extension represented a new investment of $19.2 million by district residents over the next 30 years. Residents will be responsible for more than $10 million of the $18 million total and less than $8.2 million for the high school and arena. Cutter Morning Star was approved for $7.8 million from the state's Academic Facilities Partnership Program.
A reduction of 115 students in Hot Springs schools represented the most significant total increase or decrease for any area district in the past five years. The decrease from 3,682 students to 3,567 is the district's sharpest downturn since 2006, when it saw a 2.3-percent decrease of 85 students, and its largest change overall since 2005, when enrollment increased by 107 students, 2.9 percent. Hot Springs' least prior enrollment since 2004 was 3,611 in 2009-10.
Fountain Lake and Lakeside posted record enrollment totals of 1,424 and 3,497, respectively, for the current school year. Both districts continued their positive trends.
The increase of 38 students, 2.7 percent, for Fountain Lake is its fourth-largest since 2004. The student population for Fountain Lake increased for the 10th time in the last 11 years. The district's enrollment was 1,147 in 2006.
Lakeside's totals have increased each year since 2004 except for 2010, when its overall enrollment decreased by one student. The district has posted one-year hikes of more than 100 students four times since its enrollment was 2,557 in 2004. Lakeside saw its sharpest spike the following year with an increase of 171 students, 6.7 percent, to 2,728.
A gain of 35 students, 0.8 percent, to 4,407 in Lake Hamilton marked the district's 10th year of increases in the last 13 years. Enrollment hit 4,443 in 2014, but declined to 4,378 the following year. Surges of 184 students in 2005 and 183 in 2011 for Lake Hamilton were the most seen by any district in the area since 2004, when the district's student population was 3,733.
Magnet Cove's gain of two students to 710 marked its fifth consecutive year of moderate growth. Enrollment increased by 29 students in 2016 to put the district at more than 700 for the first time since 2008.
A 6.58-percent decline of 49 students the following year put Magnet Cove at less than 700 students just five years after enrollment was 815 in 2004. The student population was between 636-638 from 2011-2013 until the recent gains.
Glen Rose also reported its seventh consecutive year of gains with 17 more students for a total of 1,048, surpassing its previous peak of 1,042 in 2005. The student population decreased to 943 in 2010 before the new growth.
Neighboring Malvern lost 95 net students, 4.6 percent, to fall to less than 2,000 since at least 2004, when the district reported 2,226 students. The district experienced inconsistent gains and losses between 2006-2016 with a previous low of 2,025 in 2015 and high of 2,152 in 2013.
Jessieville gained a net of five students for a new enrollment of 884. The district's enrollment has averaged between 854-930 students since 2005.
Bismarck lost 15 students to decrease to 990 overall, but has remained similarly stable since 2004. Enrollment has not been reported for less than 949 or more than 1,051 in the last 14 years.
A gain of 30 students represented Centerpoint's most significant increase since the former Curt Bean Lumber mill in Glenwood closed in 2010. The mill employed about 250 workers.
Centerpoint's enrollment was 1,083 in 2006 and declined to 1,029 the year the mill closed. The district has reported alternating years of gains and losses down to 933 students last year and up again to 963 this year.
Caddo River Forest Products officially began production at the reopened mill in the summer with a goal of employing at least 130 workers. Centerpoint also consolidated its campuses to Rosboro this semester with a full opening of its new $10-million elementary school almost three years after voters approved a millage increase to fund its construction.
Mountain Pine's enrollment remained almost steady at 527 students, two years removed from a decrease to 513 students. The district's enrollment was 665 in 2004.
Weyerhaeuser closed its sawmill in Mountain Pine in 2006. Mountain Pine alumni Morgan Wiles and Shaun Keefe recently announced they purchased the 389-acre site in May with plans to relocate the operations of WinChoice USA. They said the company could employ more than 200 local workers.
Mount Ida reported a net loss of five more students to fall to 466. The district had 604 students in 2005, but declines dropped enrollment to less than 500 by 2014. Mount Ida has seen its enrollment decrease in 10 of the last 12 years.
Local on 10/29/2017