Burbio School Tracker 1/06: Federal Enrollment Numbers Are In

1. As part of our foundational district information dataset Burbio delivers state and district-level enrollment data, sourced from Federal reporting and integrated into every layer of our district analysis and policy dashboards. Last week the Department of Education published enrollment figures for the 2024-25 academic year. Nationally, enrollment dropped 0.3% between 2023-24 and 2024-25 across fifty states and the District of Columbia. Here are the states that had a decline of 1% or more:

Below are the states that gained enrollment:

Further below in this newsletter we review year-over-year enrollment changes for the 25 largest school districts in the country. In future weeks we will drill down deeper on enrollment comparisons across districts and within states.

2. Burbio's Signals Tracker reads millions of pages of district discussions and summarizes them for clients, who use the information to identify immediate selling opportunities. The Signals can be pulled into CRMs via API and combined with client's proprietary AI models.

This week, we analyze Signals reports from the past 90 days to identify the top five trends in how districts are addressing mental health needs:

• SEL & Prevention: Prioritizing Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and Universal Wellness Programs through investing in foundational programs aimed at improving the overall well-being and social skills of students, often as a preventative Tier 1 strategy.

• Crisis & Threat Management: Enhance crisis response, suicide prevention, and threat assessment by establishing Crisis Response Teams (CRT) and protocols for students at risk of suicide, conducting behavioral threat assessment and management training and procedures, and integrating trauma-responsive practices.

• Staffing & Specialized Training: Expanding clinical staffing and specialized professional development, which includes bringing in additional counselors, social workers, psychologists, and specialized staff while also adding professional development (PD) and training for school personnel.

• External & Telehealth Partnerships: Leveraging external partnerships and telehealth for service delivery, working with mental health agencies, hospitals, and community service boards.

• Behavior & Safety Systems: Developing systems to manage high-risk behavior and absenteeism, which involves employing frameworks like MTSS and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). In addition, districts will incorporate technology like safety software to monitor for self-harm or bullying risks.

Burbio is introducing a District Research Agent that summarizes sector-specific summaries of school district objectives. Click here for a short video.

3. Burbio's District Research and Territory Planning Agent analyzes board minutes, strategic and facilities plans, budgets, bonds, vendor payments, and more to generate sector-specific summaries of a district’s priorities and initiatives. Below are highlights across sectors for Mobile County Public Schools, AL:

• Facilities: The district recently approved an easement to Alabama Power for a multipurpose building being built on the campus of Mary B. Austin Elementary School.

• Special Education and discipline: For students facing expulsion the district uses several approaches, including requiring students to complete a quarter in the CLC virtual learning program. The district can also recommend educational services be provided in accordance with a student’s IEP.

• Mental Health: The district recently approved a contract with a vendor to provide school-based therapists.

• STEM and CTE: Recent initiatives include the adoption of CTE textbook titles as recommended by the CTE Textbook Adoption Committee, the adoption of Science textbooks for grades K-12, and a contract with Exploreum Science Center for district programming.

• ELA Curriculum: The district recently signed contracts with Learning A-Z, Curriculum Associates, Reading Horizons, and BrainPOP.

• School Safety: The district approved a contract with a supplier for behavioral threat assessment and professional development tools and tracking.

4. To continue our analysis of the recently announced NCES enrollments, below are year-over-year changes for the 25 largest districts in the country. Ten of the districts saw increases while fifteen had declines: