District 196: Students of Color Make Up 28 Percent of District Population

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Editor's Note: The following is a press release from Independent School District 196.

Enrollment in the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Public Schools decreased by less than 1 percent this year and more than one-fourth of all students are students of color, according to the official October enrollment report that was presented to the School Board Oct. 8.

The official enrollment report is submitted to the Minnesota Department of Education each year and is used to determine funding from the state. The report, which was presented by Student Information Supervisor Kim Reis, shows there were 27,168 students enrolled in District 196 schools on Oct. 1 this year. That is 236 fewer students (0.86 percent) compared to
last year at this time.

Total enrollment includes all students in kindergarten through grade 12, plus students in center-based special education and early childhood special education programs. The K-12 only enrollment of 25,928 is 232 fewer students than last year and 252 fewer than projected by the district last November for purposes of preparing the 2012-13 preliminary budget. The final budget presented to the board in December will reflect actual enrollments from the Oct. 1 count.

The district’s largest class this year is grade 12, with 2,191 students, and the smallest is grade five, with 1,820 students. Enrollment increased at the elementary level and decreased for middle school and especially high school. The breakdown by level shows that on Oct. 1, 2012, the district had:

• 11,541 elementary school students (grades K-5), an increase of 64 students from last year;
• 5,916 middle school students (grades 6-8), a decrease of 65;
• 8,471 high school students (grades 9-12), a decrease of 231;
• 771 students in center-based special education programs, a decrease of 46, and
• 469 students in early childhood special education, an increase of 42 students from last year.

Reis also shared demographic data on students enrolled in the district on Oct. 1. Students of color now represent 28.1 percent of total enrollment, up 1.7 percent from last year and more than double the 13.7 percent from 10 years ago in 2002. Of this year’s total, 11.1 percent of district students are Black (up 0.8 percent); 9 percent are Asian (up 0.4 percent); 7.2 percent are Hispanic (up 0.6 percent) and 0.9 percent are American Indian (same as last year). White students represent 71.9 percent of enrollment, a 1.7 percent decrease compared to last year.

Students who qualify to receive free or reduced-price school meals make up 22.5 percent of this year’s enrollment, up 4.3 percent from last year and nearly triple the 8.3 percent of district students who qualified just 10 years ago. Students receiving special education services represent 15.3 percent of total enrollment, up 2.0 percent from last year and just slightly higher than the 13.9 percent who qualified for special education services in 2002. Students who qualify to receive English Learner (EL) services represent 5 percent of total enrollment, the same percentage as last year and 1.4 percent higher than the 3.6 percent who qualified for EL services in 2002.