Burbio School Tracker 11/4: Contraction & Expansion

1. Declining enrollment places multiple points of pressure on school districts, and this week we use our AI-powered Signals Tracker to review issues being faced by districts across ten states discussed in recent board meetings. First, a look at districts discussing financial and budgetary pressures caused by enrollment declines: 

• Eanes ISD, TX, discussed the need to find $5-$6 million in revenue or cost savings for next year's budget to account for declining enrollment, declining state revenues, and a declining fund balance. 
• St. Joseph School District, MO, discussed next year's budget reduction plan, with a goal of saving $2.7 million to incorporate "senior citizen property tax cap, capital improvement expenditures, declining enrollment, low attendance, ESSER funds, and federal funding delays ."
• Pleasanton Unified School District, CA, conditionally approved (as opposed to approved) their LCAP and Adopted Budget for this year due to a "Significant gap between revenue and expenses. PUSD has recently shifted from a growing district to a declining enrollment district. The district has also identified a need to make system improvements to improve fiscal projections and reduce expenses."
• Waunakee Community School District, WI, reports that after the "3rd Friday count in the September report," the district is now considered a "declining enrollment district in the revenue limit formula," for the state of Wisconsin.
• Pasco County Schools, FL, reports "The district received approximately $3.6 million less in state funding due to declining enrollment of 638 students. Approximately $92 million is set aside for charter schools and $71 million for FES (Family Empowerment) scholarships   . . . "

Declining enrollments often result in school consolidations, and here are some examples:

• Kyrene Elementary School District, AZ, having experienced a 40% enrollment decline over the past 25 years, held hearings on its plan to close nine campuses by 2028. A final vote could come as soon as December.
• Geary County Schools, KS, is holding a hearing this week to discuss closing three school buildings with declining enrollment, per-pupil expenditures, and facility expenditures listed as the reasons.
• Corvallis School District, OR, continues to receive public comment on the district's school consolidation plan, which calls for closing a middle and elementary school, in the face of continuing enrollment declines since the late 2010s.
• In response to declining enrollment Douglas County School District, NV will "evaluate current school facility usage, capacity, and operational efficiency. The discussion will include potential strategies such as school consolidation . . . "
• Onteora Central School District, NY school board passed a resolution to close an elementary school. The district faces declining enrollment and decreasing state aid and is attempting to fund the transition to a more centralized campus with a bond vote in December. 

2. Burbio maintains a database of district checkbook registers covering over 20 million PreK-12 students. In recent weeks we have profiled the market penetration of select AI-focused educational products. This week we look at additional vendors in that part of the industry. The percentages below represent districts that have written one or more checks to the suppliers over the last twelve months: 

3. This is a big week for bond votes across the country. Even as some districts struggle with contraction due to enrollment declines (see above), others are proposing capital projects to expand and upgrade facilities.

First, some examples from across the country of districts with CTE investments in their bond initiatives:

• Albuquerque Public Schools, NM, is proposing a $350 million bond that budgets $25.4 million for a career technical education facility.
• Athena-Weston School District, OR, is voting on a $38.9 million bond that includes over $6 million for a new CTE/Science building for grades 6-12.
• Princeton Public Schools, MN, votes on a $49 million bond targeted to replace and modernize CTE spaces and science labs. 
• Montpelier Roxbury Public Schools, VT, is voting on a $149 million proposal to build a new Central Vermont Career Center.
• Williamsburg Community School District, IA, is voting on a $7.9 million bond focused on CTE reconfiguring and adding to classroom, labs and shop space. 

Athletic facilities are also a big part of bond initiatives. Some examples being voted on this week: 

• Romeo Community Schools MI, will add a gym, turf field, and baseball field, and upgrade playgrounds, as part of a $62 million bond. 
• Lake Chelan School District, WA, is spending $8.8 million upgrading a field complex as part of a $73 million bond.
• Springboro Schools, OH, is investing $7 million on a multi-use athletic complex as part of a $115 million bond.
• South Portland School Department, ME, will debate on alternative proposals: a natural grass field for $4.7 million or a turf field for $5.5 million. 

4. Burbio now bundles RFPs into our PreK-12 Intelligence Hub datasets including state grants, school board meeting minutes, strategic plans, bonds, superintendent turnover, and more. RFPs are presented in a sortable dashboard by category and are updated daily. Below is a selection that appeared in the last week:

• Alamance Burlington Schools, NC, is looking for CCTV Cameras and Door Access.
• Detroit Public Schools, MI, is looking for vendors to provide student-based services or student enrichment programming.
• Greenwich Public Schools, CT, is looking to upgrade and make alterations to the HVAC system at one of their schools. 
• Gwinnett County Public Schools, GA, is looking for a centralized rostering and user access management solution. 
• Baltimore City Public Schools, MD, is looking for board-certified behavioral analysts. 
• Chippewa Valley Schools, MI, is looking for a Tron robot.