Yuma School District-1 is experiencing a continual trend of lower student enrollment.
The figures from the October count show an estimated enrollment of 760 students in grades K-12. That is 25 less than the 2023 October count of 785. It the lowest since 2016. Yuma-1’s enrollment was above 800 as recently as 2022. The student count has been dropping since 2020, when it was 863.
“We do watch enrollment numbers closely,” Superintendent Dianna Chrisman said. “In a community this size, there is always a bit of ebb and flow. We have been trending down post COVID with families leaving the community, and we do have some families in town that choose to send their children to smaller districts. We are noticing our elementary classroom sizes are smaller than they have been in years past, so unless we have some other industries coming into the community we are not expecting significant growth in our enrollment numbers in the near future.”
Data isn’t officially due to the Colorado Department of Education until November, and the final sign off by the board secretary at the beginning of December. Enrollment is used for state funding purposes.
Yuma-1 is receiving $13,268.17 per “full time equivalent” (FTE) student for 2024-25. The actual count and FTE are different because the preschool students are counted half-time. There is only a one-half difference between the FTE count (759.5) and the actual count. The full drop in FTE is 25.5.
A total of six grades are showing a decrease from last year, including a decrease in third grade compared to 2023’s enrollment, and 12 in first grade. However, second and fourth grade show increases of 11 and 15 as those bigger grades advance to the next year. Those are the two biggest grades with 67 each, while this year’s senior class is the smallest at 46 students, which is 12 lower than when that class was in 11th grade last year.
Yuma High School’s enrollment is at 228, compared to 245 last year. The freshman class has 60 students, 10th grade 59, 11th grade 63, and 12th grade 46.
Yuma Middle School, grades 5-8, is showing an enrollment of 223, slightly down from last year’s 228. Fifth grade has 55 students, sixth grade 59, seventh 53 and eighth 56.
Morris Elementary School, grades K-4, has an enrollment of 309 students, compared to 312 last year. There are 57 students in kindergarten, 61 in first grade, 67 in second grade, 57 in third and 67 in fourth.
Area schools
• Liberty School District J-4 is enjoying an increase in students, with 76 in grades K-12 compared to 65 last year. Liberty is receiving $26,345 per pupil in state equalization funding for 2024-25.
• Lone Star School District No. 101 is down six students from last year, showing 119 in grades K-12 compared to 125 last year. It was noted that Lone Star graduated a class of 15 in May, the biggest a class can be at Lone Star, helping account for the decrease. There are 56 students in the elementary grades, 19 in the middle school and 44 in high school. Lone Star is receiving a little below $15,000 in per pupil funding for 2024-25.
• Otis R-3 has remained steady with an enrollment of 192, which is one more than last year. Otis’ per pupil funding was not available prior to press time.