The Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy (Ohio State University) recently posted the following: “Kindergarten enrollment in American schools has plummeted during the pandemic, potentially setting back educational and social development for children at a critical age and impacting public school budgets for years to come. Most states don’t require kindergarten attendance. As a result, the drop in enrollment at that age has been steeper than at other levels — down 14 percent in Arizona, for example, compared to 5 percent across all grades. Parents made similar decisions across the country. Pre-K and kindergarten enrollment fell 18 percent in Massachusetts, compared to declines of almost 4 percent for other grades. In Ohio, kindergarten enrollment declined in nearly every local school district.”
This is an important district statistic to examine. Perhaps this will be a temporary decline in your district or maybe kindergarten enrollment has dropped each year over the last several. And it's possible that your district's kindergarten enrollment may be increasing during typical years. Regardless the numbers, kindergarten enrollment impacts learning and student achievement concerns, facility needs, and school finances. As the first building block of the K-12 experience, kindergarten is an important board discussion item.