School District 57 saw a dramatic but an expected decrease in enrollment this year, along with a boost in students choosing different out of class learning opportunities.

At the recent school board meeting, trustees reported some of the statistics they’ve seen one month into the 2020 school year.

“Currently in SD57, we have registration numbers of 13,314 students,” explained SD57 Superintendent, Anita Richardson” that is a decline of 440 students compared to 2019.”

Homeschooling has also been an increasingly popular this year, with enrollment numbers nearly tripling from last year.

“This time last year, we had 10 homeschooled students in our district and currently we have 28,” Richardson added.

The most noticeable difference in SD57 comes from distant learning enrollment that services students from K-12, with 289 more students choosing the option than last year.

There were just 98 distant learning students last year, this year 487 students in grades K-12 are opting for it.

Richardson explained that the district is expecting a further decline in enrollment over the next year as the pandemic continues.

The next school board meeting will be held on October 27th.