Suzanne Spencer, WSBT-TV
South Bend school officials are expecting dropping enrollment numbers for the fifth straight year in a row.
Based on trends through the years, officials say they expect between 100 and 150 students to leave the district.
Along with lower enrollment numbers comes less money. The School Board announced the general fund budget is $1 million less than 2014.
“That’s not a significant amount that would require reductions in jobs,” says Superintendent Carole Schmidt. “At least at this point.”
One student brings nearly $6,000 to local schools. But Dr. Schmidt says there is more to blame than money.
“We’re dealing with the voucher situation here in Indiana,” says Dr. Schmidt.
Indiana’s voucher program was named one of the best in the country according to a study from the Center for Education Reform. According to data, Indiana accepts a wider range of financial backgrounds and circumstantial situations.
But Dr. Schmidt says it pulls kids away from South Bend Schools.
“My overall sense is that we have children who are leaving our district, taking the vouchers, and going to private schools,” says Dr. Schmidt. “They would stay with us if the vouchers weren’t there.”
Other programs like open-enrollment, which allow kids to attend private schools for free, act as an alternative for vouchers.
P-H-M has had success with the program — so much so that they had to limit open enrollment to Kindergarten through second graders.
More than half of the students who attend P-H-M from out of the district, are from South Bend. But only 80 students enrolled in South Bend schools from other districts.
“It always worries me. Everything worries me,” says Dr. Schmidt. “A drop in student enrollment always worries us because that’s a source of major revenue.”