Grain Valley School District seeing continued increase in enrollment

The Grain Valley School District is celebrating a milestone – its first class of more than 300 students.

The Board of Education discussed enrollment numbers for the 2008-09 school year Wednesday. Currently, district enrollment is 3,227 students – up from 2,997 at the end of school in May.

However, Superintendent Chris Small said this number is likely to change by mid-September.

“Typically by Labor Day, enrollment drops back by 20 to 25 kids,” he said. “This is because of drops, transfers and students who did not meet residency requirements.”

But the most surprising number was the size of the kindergarten class – 303 students, which makes the class the largest in district history. The next largest class is third grade, which has 288 students.

Small said at this time, the size of the kindergarten class does not create any problems. However, if the trend continues and classes at that level stay above the 300 mark, classroom space could become an issue in the future.

“If we consistently have classes above 300, then it will start to become taxing on the elementary space and one day, middle school space,” he said. “We will just have to watch those numbers.”

Overcrowding has also been a problem at Grain Valley High School. An eight-classroom addition was completed over the summer to address some of those concerns. August enrollment numbers show the high school population nearing the 900 mark with 886 students. In May, 794 students finished out the school year.

Despite growth concerns for the Grain Valley district, Small said the beginning of the school year is going well.

“The first couple of days have been wonderful,” he said. “There have only been minor transportation issues, but otherwise things are really going great.”