Statistically speaking, South Dakota schools are shrinking. While enrollment is down, officials say one year’s numbers don’t tell the whole story.
The 2023-24 South Dakota Department of Education enrollment report shows state schools are down overall from 2022-23.
In total, there are 643 fewer students in state schools from last year, a difference of about one-half of one percent.
A DoE spokesperson said that number is within the normal year-to-year fluctuations.
Secretary of Education Joe Graves says while it’s not a major concern, enrollment numbers do have real impacts for lawmakers.
“The finance formula provides an increase in a typical year as a per-student, and when enrollment is going up quickly that simply makes it tougher for the state and locals as well to fund that because you’re not only trying to increase an amount per head, but you’re also trying to have more students," Graves said. "In this case, it makes things a little easier because we had a slight decline in enrollment.”
The state is still ahead of enrollment numbers from 2021-22. Graves said this reflects demographic change more than any single policy.
“There’s some reasons that we’re growing, I mean we have some metropolitan areas that are definitely jumping in their population, their census, but there’s also a number of factors depressing enrollment," Graves said. "For example, the birthrate. The birthrate in America is absolutely in the tank. If it weren’t for immigration right now, population would be declining in America, and that affects South Dakota in many of the same ways.”
Other major contributing factors to the drop in enrollment include the increase in popularity of private and homeschool options.