Enrollment declines at Lutie, Dora; other schools see increase

The beginning-of-the-school-year enrollment numbers are in at area schools, and some schools gained a few students while a couple lost some.

At Gainesville, superintendent Joe Donley said he was pleased with the figures, which showed 628 students enrolled in K-12 classes at Gainesville. Last year, Gainesville had 621 enrolled at the beginning of the school year. Another increase for Gainesville was in the preschool-aged group, where Gainesville is serving 30 students in two classes this year compared with 15 students in one class last year.

The biggest increase in student population was seen at Bakersfield, where superintendent Amy Britt said her beginning-of-the-school-year enrollment leaped from 349 students last year to 383 this year.

"Even though our senior class is significantly smaller than last year's, we have had an uptick in other grade levels, especially in the elementary.  Our high school has also seen growth this year," Britt said. "We are excited about the additional enrollment and look forward to continuing to provide an excellent education to every student."

At Dora, superintendent Sherry Anstine said the enrollment was down 13 students over last year. Currently, there are 326 K-12 students at Dora, compared with 339 last year.

Lutie saw the biggest drop in enrollment, a trend that has superintendent Scot Young concerned. Lutie has 156 K-12 students, compared with 200 last year at this time. Young says it's been a steady decline that has seen the school enrollment cut in half from its heyday in the 1990s. "When I was a teacher here in the '90s we had about 350 kids," Young said.

The superintendent blamed the falling enrollment figures on lack of jobs in the area.

"There are just no jobs for young families. No industry," Young said. He also blamed the economy and higher gas prices. He said the parents in one family in his district worked in Branson, but they moved to Branson because it was costing too much to drive it every day. "It's a real concern," he said.

Thornfield, the little school that could, keeps holding its own. The K-8 school in northern Ozark County had 69 students at the start of the school year last year and 67 on the first day of school this year. But superintendent Mike Wallace is quick to point out, "We've enrolled four more students since the first day of school." That brings the school's enrollment to 71.

Thornfield has kept a steady pace for years, Wallace said.