Park City School District student enrollment continues to decline, but district officials say a strategic approach to staffing and educational opportunities has largely prevented substantive changes for students and their families. School districts are state-mandated to track enrollment numbers, which influence how much funding they receive each year. However, Business Administrator Randy Upton said the slow decline in student population has not been dramatic enough to spur a noticeable difference in funding so far. “We’re not losing millions of dollars at a time,” he said. “There will be a point where it’s going to level off.” The school district projected it would have 3,994 students for the 2026-27 school year, but actual enrollment was 3,956, or 38 fewer than predicted. Upton said Park City is unique because the high school offers so many electives, which allows the district to keep class sizes smaller and avoid cutting full-time positions. Instead of cutting teacher positions when there’s a funding change, he said the district tries to analyze its practices to end “outdated” programs. “It’s important for us to keep our staff because we think we have an amazing staff,” Upton said. “We made conscious efforts to do our best to limit risks. We’ve had a few rifts over the last couple of years, but not in student-facing positions. … We’re always trying to keep the kids in mind first and provide them the best opportunities possible.” Kindergarten had the largest discrepancy between the district’s projected and actual enrollment numbers. Specifically, district officials expected 238 kindergarten students this year, but only 222 enrolled. Upton said the district isn’t concerned about the lower-than-expected kindergarten numbers, even though it seems to indicate that fewer students will enroll over the next few years. “We’re not totally surprised by the kindergarten numbers because if you look at the number of births in the county, not including migration, they’re down,” Upton said. “One of the advantages we have is the preschool program, which we’ll maximize as much as we can, because our hope is those kids will stay in kindergarten with us as well and move on up in the system.” Upton said Park City High School typically has higher enrollment than the elementary schools because students who leave the district or attend a private or charter school usually return to public schools for secondary education. “When you look at the whole picture, it’s manageable,” Upton said. “We’re continuously watching it, there is concern, and we’re strategizing, but at the same time, it’s not like we’re throwing up a white flag, so to speak.” The current configuration of schools — four elementary schools, one middle school and one high school — seems to be the sweet spot for the Park City School District, Upton added. “Our taxpayers pay a lot of money for a great education here in Park City,” he said. “We try to offer more variety, which is what contributes to our class sizes being a little bit lower. … In the end, we’re going to favor kids, so if we need extra staff, extra face-to-face time with kids, we’re going to provide that so the kids have the best experience possible.” Upton said the school board’s decision to allow open enrollment, which lets kids who live outside the district boundaries attend a Park City school, has also helped enrollment numbers, especially in the elementary schools. “We have a lot of people who want to come into the district and receive an education here because of the quality of education that we have,” Upton said. “There are a lot of reasons (for the decline), and part of it is some of our kids are probably going to charters or private schools or whatever the case may be. Parents with open enrollment have the option to do what’s best for their kids, and we need to find ways to be a little bit better than we are to attract some of those folks in our district.” Open enrollment is available for families at the elementary and secondary level, but more spaces are open for elementary-aged children because of the number of students who return to the public school system for high school. Upton said the goal with open enrollment is to bring in enough students to fulfill the district’s current capacity, not to increase class sizes or spur additional hires. “We’re going to allow classes to fill up to a certain level, but we’re going to do it without hiring more teachers,” Upton said. “We’re fully utilizing the resources that we currently have and maximizing those kids, which helps the revenue so we’re able to provide the same instruction for those kids.” Information on Park City School District’s open enrollment program is available by visiting pcschools.us/enrollment/open-enrollment. However, applications for Ecker Hill Middle School and Park City High School have closed until next year. The post Park City School District navigates declining student numbers, prioritizes teacher stability appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less