ROGERS — After years of rapid growth, the Rogers School District has seen a decline in the number of students this year.

On Wednesday, Aug. 19, the first day of the 2009-2010 school year, there were 13,583 students. On the first day of school last year, the district counted 13,618 students.

Growth has leveled off in recent years, district spokeswoman Ashley Siwiec said.

Because of a down economy and a slow local real-estate market, the administration wasn't planning on growth this year, she said.

Many agencies view the number of students in the district on Oct. 1 as the official number, and typically that num ber is slightly less than the number recorded on the first day of school, Siwiec said. She expects the Oct. 1 number will be slightly lower than Wednesday's.

Because state school funds are distributed according to the number of students, a decline in population will affect the district's budget, Siwiec said, but it's too early to know how that will affect the overall budget.

"We're a long way from knowing," she said.

Scholars, Pages 8 on 08/26/2009

Comments

To report abuse or misuse of this area please hit the "Suggest Removal" link in the comment to alert our online managers.

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.