GREEN BAY, Wis. (NBC 26) — Fewer students are attending Wisconsin public schools.
Obviously, we like to see an increased enrollment," Manitowoc Public School District President Dave Nickels said.
According to new data released by the state, Wisconsin's total public school enrollment this fall has dropped 0.5 percent compared to last year.
But Manitowoc managed to go the opposite direction. The district added one student this semester. In the past, it had seen a declining enrollment.
"Parents who work in a different area — they might work in Sheboygan or Appleton or Green Bay — and then they take their children to those schools," Nickels said. "We were able this year to turn some of that around. ... Seeing more students coming back to our district that previously may have gone to another district, that's a big positive for me because that's been one of my focuses since I got on the board."
Still, like many other districts across the state, MPSD is still fighting to regain pre-pandemic enrollment.
Before the pandemic, the district had nearly 250 more students than they do now.
"We added a virtual component that was voluntary at one of our schools," Nickels said. "And we had more interest in that than we expected."
Meantime, Green Bay public schools have about 120 fewer students compared to last fall.
In 2019, the district had more than 20,000 enrolled. Now, it's below 19,000. Last October, officials had better hopes for the future.
"When we are back to face-to-face, those 4K and those 5K students will be back and it'll add to our membership," former GBAPS COO Pete Ross said in a 2020 board meeting.
But that hasn't been the case. Two years ago, Green Bay had 1,500 kindergarteners. This September, it was down to fewer than 1,400.
But even with lower enrollment, the DPI announced Green Bay is still receiving more money compared to previous years. But that doesn't necessarily mean local homeowners will directly pay more in property taxes. District families are set to pay their lowest mill rate since 2009.
"This district, for every dollar that you spend from your local tax base, you've got three dollars coming from the state and federal government," Ross said.
