Some positive news for the Greene County School District, as enrollment numbers recently showed an increase.

Superintendent Tim Christensen says the certified enrollment was taken on October 1st and the district was up 27 students for a total of 1,187.

“With that we’re counting students that are open enrolled out that really aren’t in our seats, but we’re not able to count students that are open enrolled in, in that certified enrollment, because someone else (another school district) is counting them and we exchange money on that. But the other count is what we call ‘butts in seats,’ which is BEDS enrollment, which is the basic education enrollment, and with that we’re 1,158 students.”

Christensen points out the importance of reporting their certified enrolment numbers.

“That’s linked to funding from the state. As we look at being up 27 students, provided that the legislature does Students Supplemental Aid in the two-percent range, that would be in the neighborhood of an additional $200,000 to look at (for) next year. Two-hundred-thousand dollars in a $15 million budget isn’t a lot of money, but again it’s great to be on the positive side rather than the negative side.”

Last year’s certified enrollment showed Greene County being down 41 students. Christensen believes that the two main factors driving the increase included families moving to the district this past summer and recapturing some of the students that chose to homeschool their kids last year.