PORT ANGELES — Just two weeks into the school year, Port Angeles School District officials are thinking of making deep budget cuts of as great as $425,000.
The cuts would be needed because of student enrollments well below September projections.
The dip is especially true at the elementary level, said Gary Cohn, district superintendent, on Monday.
Like all other districts, Port Angeles receives money from the state and federal governments based on its student population.
District officials expected to see 4,173 full-time-equivalent students this year — 74 fewer than last year’s count of 4,247.
However, as of Sept. 9, only 4,150 students were enrolled.
Assuming that an eight-year trend of enrollment loss from September through May holds, the district is facing a loss of 85 students by the end of the school year, Cohn said.
At $5,000 per student in income from the state, the cost to the district would be $425,000 by year’s end.
“We were looking forward to a flattening [of enrollment decline]”, Cohn said.
