LA GRANDE — The La Grande School District’s enrollment took a big hit when the coronavirus pandemic arrived in 2020, one it has yet to recover from.

La Grande reported having 2,067 students at the end of February, about 286 students less than it had in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic, according to La Grande School District Superintendent George Mendoza, who added the drop in enrollment is presenting challenges to districts all over the nation.

“The reality is that, nationwide, there are one million less students in public schools since the pandemic hit,” he said.

La Grande’s dilemma is a familiar one across Oregon. The Oregon Department of Education reported the state’s 197 public school districts are educating about 5,000 fewer students now than they were in the 2022-2023 academic year and around 33,000 fewer than before the pandemic closed school buildings.

Before the pandemic, about 580,000 students attended public school in Oregon. Now, there are around 547,400, according to the state agency’s data, which is based on fall attendance records. That’s a 6% decline overall since the fall of 2019 and a 0.9% drop from last year.

La Grande hangs its decline in the school district on an increase in the number of students being home-schooled or enrolled in online schools.

“The pandemic shifted how people are going about receiving educational services,” Mendoza said.

The superintendent also said La Grande’s declining population is hurting enrollment. Statistics from Portland State University indicate that La Grande’s population fell 8.10% from 2022 to 2023.

The school district, due to falling enrollment and the looming end of COVID-19 relief funding from the federal government, may have to trim three teaching and three staff positions to balance its 2024-25 budget, Mendoza said. The positions would be cut by not filling some openings created by resignations and retirements. No layoffs will be necessary, Mendoza said, explaining that the cuts would be made through attrition.

Enrollment in the Union County school districts outside La Grande is above or close to what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Oregon, based on a comparison of enrollment figures reported in September 2019 and the Oregon Department of Education’s most current figures for the 2023-24 school year.

Numbers in the Cove, Imbler and Elgin school districts are up since September 2019. Cove has 302 students, up six; Elgin has 396, up 41; and Imbler has 314 students, up 21.

Student counts in the North Powder and Union school districts are down since September 2019, but not dramatically. North Powder has 256 students, 18 fewer than in September 2019, and Union has 370 students, a decline of seven.

The good news for La Grande is that it has enjoyed an uptick in enrollment since the start of the calendar year. The school district’s enrollment has jumped 15 students since the end of December, when its enrollment was 2,052. La Grande gained six students in January and nine in February.

“This will help us maintain our staff and keep our programs and services,’’ Mendoza said.

The La Grande School District receives at least $8,000 a year from the state per student.

La Grande isn’t the only Northeast Oregon school district faced with a declining student population.

Baker High sees decreasing enrollment

At Baker High School, the enrollment dropped by 45 students from the second week of classes in September to the start of March, from 521 students to 476.

Principal Skye Flanagan said several factors have contributed to the trend.

“The best part about this is that no one has actually dropped out of high school — that we know of, anyway,” Flanagan said.

Several students have transferred from Baker High to Eagle Cap Innovative High School, which is also operated by the Baker School District.

Eagle Cap’s enrollment increased from 70 students in January to 76 at the start of March.

Five students have moved out of the district, and six German exchange students, who were included in the September tally, have returned to their homes, Flanagan said.

Two students graduated early, and three have moved to home-schooling, he said.

Flanagan said other students have left the high school for job training, and six are temporarily taking online classes while helping deal with family issues.

“The key to it is these aren’t kids that are just not going to school anymore,” Flanagan said.

The decline in Baker High School enrollment accounts for most of the change in districtwide numbers since the start of the school year.

The district’s total enrollment has dropped by 43 students, from 1,698 to 1,655. The change at the high school is by far the largest among schools. Enrollment at the start of the 2021-22 school year was 1,693, nearly identical to the start of the 2023-24 year.

Enrollment at Baker Middle School has dropped by nine students since September 2023, from 249 to 240. Brooklyn Primary (grades 1 through 3) has added three students (259 to 262), and South Baker Intermediate (grades 4 through 6) has dropped by one student, from 302 to 301.

Wallowa County bounces back

Public school districts in Wallowa County have posted enrollment increases this school year — and all the districts have bounced back from a pandemic-driven dip.

According to statistics from the Oregon Department of Education, Wallowa County public schools have 915 students enrolled for the 2023-24 school year, an increase over the 874 students reported in the 2022-23 year.

Enrollment in the Enterprise School District this year is 428, an increase of eight students. Joseph Charter School has 279 students, an increase of 18 students over the previous year. The Wallowa School District has 204 students, up from 189 the previous year. And the tiny Troy School District stayed steady, with four students.

Total enrollment in Wallowa County public schools dropped a bit during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the schools have more than regained their enrollment numbers since then, increasing by 80 students from the 2020-21 school year.

“People have moved into the county for various reasons, and with the opportunity to attend three very good schools, there are choices for families,” said Lance Homan, superintendent of Joseph Charter School.

Grant County reports a mixed bag

Grant County saw some ups and downs in fall enrollment reports from 2022-23 to 2023-24. Most districts saw small increases or decreases, with Prairie City being the outlier — it showed 135 new students in its 2023-24 fall enrollment report.

Dayville School District saw a 13-student drop for 2023-24, with enrollment falling to 46 this fall. Both Long Creek and Monument school districts saw dips of seven students from 2022-23 to this year, with Long Creek enrolling 19 students at the start of the 2023-24 school year and Monument recording 54.

Grant School District, which has experienced a drop of more than 100 students since the 2019-20 school year, saw its fall enrollment numbers increase by one from 2022-23, to 471 students.

Prairie City’s fall enrollment grew from 1,089 in fall 2023 to 1,224 at the start of this school year, but that number includes students in two online schools that are affiliated with the district.

Oregon Connections Academy’s enrollment for fall 2023-24 was 942, while the new Virtual Prep Academy of Oregon had 37 to begin the year. Both online schools have grown significantly since then, according to Prairie City Superintendent Casey Hallgarth.

But Hallgarth reports that in-person enrollment in Prairie City School has been on an upward trend throughout his entire tenure as superintendent.

“Over the last six years since I’ve been here, we’ve never had a decrease in students in the brick and mortar,” he said. “When I started at Prairie we had 130 kids, and now we have about 270.”

The official Department of Education number for Prairie City’s fall 2023-24 enrollment was 245.

Hallgarth credits the steady increase in student numbers to expanded preschool hours, up from a half-day to a full day.

“Couple that with just having some great teachers and consistency — we don’t have a lot of turnover with our teachers,” he said. “(We’re) implementing some key programs like bringing back music, Farm to School with the grade school and then implementing our digital program, FFA, ag, the programs and systems we’re putting in place — kids are attracted to that and they want to come be a part of that.”

Umatilla, Morrow counties mostly follow statewide trend

Most of the districts in Umatilla and Morrow counties saw a decrease in enrollment in the 2023-24 school year compared to the year before. Of those, about half did not lose more than 15 students.

However, almost all the largest school districts in the two counties lost at least 45 students. Morrow School District’s enrollment went down by 88, Pendleton’s by 61, Milton-Freewater’s by 52, Hermiston’s by 46.

Schools in Morrow County saw drops in enrollment mostly in their elementary schools. Sam Boardman Elementary has 28 fewer students, Irrigon Elementary has 29 fewer, and Windy River and Heppner have 10 and 13 fewer students, respectively.

In Pendleton, the most influential drops in enrollment came from the high school, which had a decrease of 22, and Sherwood Heights Elementary School, which decreased by 35 students.

Many Hermiston schools actually saw an increase in enrollment, but two schools saw major decreases. The high school has 47 fewer students this year than last, and Desert View Elementary School has 41 fewer.

Milton-Freewater schools had significant decreases in the middle school and high school — 43 and 31 less, respectively — while the elementary schools’ numbers held strong or increased.

The only district with over 1,000 students in the two counties to increase enrollment was Umatilla School District, which gained 11 students overall. Its enrollment numbers at the elementary school, McNary Heights, decreased by 49, but the high school and middle school enrollments made up for that, increasing by 43 and 17 students, respectively.

Far and away, however, Umatilla County’s standout was Helix School District, which bucked the statewide trend and increased enrollment by 42, from 144 to 186 students. This was the largest increase in the two counties by both numbers and percentages.

For a small district consisting only of Helix Charter School and with no more than 19 students in any single grade, an enrollment increase of 29% is significant. The increase also may explain where some of the 61 Pendleton students who left the district ended up.