Seattle Schools Enrollment Updates

 As part of the Special Meeting of the Board on Tuesday, there was an enrollment update. That presentation is embedded in the agenda for the overall meeting. 

To note:

- Assigned enrollment is down slightly from 49, 240 to 49,080. Naturally, that may shift during September as students do or don't go to their assigned school (or not even show up at all in any SPS school). The October 1 count is what OSPI uses for funding. 

- There is an enrollment page at SPS that I have never seen before that has lots of info. 

- It appears that normally the rate of choice assignment is somewhere between 48-52% but it went from 47% last year to 64% this year. The district seems to have listened to parents. 

In January 2026 enrollment, families will know their assignments sooner, including choice assignments. As well, there will be earlier projections for budgeting and staffing.

- CODA (Children of Deaf Adults) students will be eligible for the Multilingual Learner eligibility through the Home Language survey. They will be guaranteed a spot in buildings with D/HH programs. Those families can either accept that placement or choose to stay at their assignment area school.

There were a couple of parents at last night's Board meeting from Blaine K-8 who said their waitlist got mostly moved, their enrollment increased and yet, they lost a teacher. This means their 5th graders will either be in a 4/5 split or in larger classes. One said that the district's policy will only bring back two teachers at a time if enrollment shows that is needed. 

If true, that seems a hard hurdle for most schools to jump. If enrollment justifies just one teacher, it seems like a school should get that.  

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