Bozeman School District reports a slight increase in student enrollment

BOZEMAN, Mont. — Bozeman school board officials report a slight increase in student enrollment.

At the high school level, there was an increase of nearly 40 students, with a total increase of 22 students districtwide.

Administrators say they expect another small increase next school year, but they expect enrollment to level off or even decline within the next six years. They say this is due to the COVID-19 pandemic affecting birth rates, causing smaller classes in primary and secondary schools.

“We keep an eye on those trends, and we see how they impact our kindergarten enrollment, and it’s a really nice line to draw, and it’s pretty accurate. So the class sizes coming in now are small and those are the classes that are moving through K-12 enrollment right now,” said Lacy Clark, director of business services for the Bozeman School District.

Clark said nearly 150 students have left the Bozeman School District through open enrollment, but it is unclear how the new law will affect enrollment in future years.