JOPLIN, Mo. —
Joplin-area school superintendents say they are not exactly sure how enrollment at their schools will be affected in the wake of the May 22 tornado.
But they are worried.
Area superintendents will meet privately today in Joplin to try to find ways to get a better idea as to how enrollment numbers will change.
A CHALLENGE
Joplin school officials estimate that 54 percent of the district’s 7,700 students were in the path of the tornado. Superintendent C.J. Huff has said all are welcome in Joplin schools when classes resume on Aug. 17, regardless of where their parents have moved. Presumably, some parents will enroll their children in the district where they now live.
“It’s challenging,” said Ashley Micklethwaite, Joplin Board of Education president. “We don’t have any firm numbers, and we won’t.”
To try to get a better idea of August enrollment numbers, the school district has prominently displayed on its website — joplinschools.org — its Joplin Schools Enrollment and Attendance Survey. Micklethwaite said officials are encouraging parents to complete the survey.
“We’re being proactive,” she said. “Hopefully we won’t have any big surprises in August.”
Superintendents in neighboring districts also are in the dark in terms of firm enrollment numbers.
“I don’t have a good number right now,” said Carl Junction Superintendent Phil Cook when he was asked about his sense of the enrollment figure and the potential for an increase. “It could be 50; it could be a couple hundred.”
Cook said between 12 and 20 parents have called to ask about enrolling in the district.
“Right now, it’s just speculation,” he said.
UNIQUE SITUATION
Tony Rossetti, Webb City superintendent, said he also doesn’t have an idea about enrollment numbers in his district.
“I don’t think people know where they’re going to be until the dust settles,” he said. He said some districts neighboring Joplin may experience enrollment spikes that may last a school year or longer, or some of the increase could be permanent.
“The uniqueness of the situation has created some interesting avenues we have to explore,” Rossetti said.
At this point, there appears to be limited impact on enrollment in the Carthage School District, said Deborah Swarens, assistant superintendent for instruction.
The district is getting some new students from Joplin, but not many, she said.
“I think we’ve had five so far, and we don’t expect any drastic increase,” she said. “We’re hoping they’re able to stay in Joplin, and we support Joplin’s effort to make that happen.”
She said the district has allowed some early enrollment as a result of inquiries.
Alma Stipp, assistant superintendent for the Neosho School District, said the district is conducting early enrollments in June and mid-July in an effort to determine how many students Neosho will absorb.
Stipp said her biggest concern is to maintain a good learning environment for students and to keep class sizes as small as possible. By tabulating enrollment as early as possible, she said, the district can be prepared and allow itself time to adjust to any spike in enrollment.
Steve Wilmoth, superintendent of Seneca schools, said the limited amount of available housing in Seneca should limit any increase in his district’s enrollment. He said the Seneca Chamber of Commerce informed him that there had been an increase in real estate activity, so he anticipates an increase in enrollment, but he isn’t sure to what degree.
“If kids show up, we’ll do our best to serve them,” he said.
Across the state line in Pittsburg, Kan., Superintendent Destry Brown said he has been contacted by about a dozen families that are transferring their children from Joplin. He said the transfer procedure is not complicated, and that Pittsburg’s schools are accustomed to receiving a number of new students each year because of parents moving to Pittsburg to study at Pittsburg State University.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
Both losing students, for the Joplin School District, and gaining students, for neighboring districts, would have financial implications.
The state funding formula for school districts is based in part on enrollment numbers. In Joplin, the average expenditure per average daily attendance is $7,274, according to figures from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Huff has said an enrollment decline and a loss in assessed valuation likely will result in decreased revenue for the district.
While an enrollment increase may result in a revenue increase in neighboring districts, superintendents say it’s not a money-making prospect.
Rossetti, in Webb City, said increased enrollment brings with it increased costs in staffing and building space.
“We just want to serve families that are displaced,” said Cook, in Carl Junction. “The other thing is if we do happen to see a couple of hundred students come to Carl, we need to look at staffing.”
STAFF WRITERS Susan Redden and Josh Letner contributed to this report.
May 2011 Joplin tornado
School officials worried about potential enrollment shifts
- May 2011 Joplin tornado
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Joplin team drove through storm to get to Moore
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SLIDESHOW: One year later, One day of unity, updated
Photos from a day of events commemorating the May 22, 2011 tornado anniversary
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Rick Rescorla award named for hero of Vietnam War, 9-11 terror attacks
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Farmers Insurance teams up with Rebuild Joplin
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Joplin man continues struggle to recover two years after tornado
As the Joplin tornado passed overhead, sweeping the house at 2430 S. Pennsylvania Ave. away in its wake, there was a moment of calm. Delbert Mcguirk was on his back in the basement, where he had sought shelter along with his wife, daughter and two grandchildren. In that moment of relative quiet, he stared up into the eye of the tornado.
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Storms cause damage throughout the Four States
Four-State Area residents hunkered down twice Monday to ride out tornadoes and powerful spring storms, then went to work cleaning up. The worst damage from Monday night’s storm was being reported in Ottawa County, Okla., near Wyandotte. That followed a report of an EF-1 tornado early Monday morning near Carthage.
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Two plead guilty to post-tornado wire theft
Two defendants pleaded guilty Monday to stealing copper wire from utility poles in the wake of the May 22, 2011, tornado that struck Joplin. Timothy M. Silveria, 45, of Joplin, and Nycoa K. Kracht, 32, of Laurel, Ind., entered open pleas of guilty in Jasper County Circuit Court to felony counts of theft from a public utility.
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Joplin team drove through storm to get to Moore
