The Adel-DeSoto-Minburn School District recently revealed its certified enrollment for the current school year, and a lot of eyebrows were raised in response to the large increase.

Superintendent Greg Dufoe says the District grew by about 100 students for resident enrollment, up to 1,932. Additionally, the served enrollment – which includes students who open-enrolled in – is at 2,006 kids, an increase of 118 from 2018-19. He says that 7% increase is one of the highest in the state, and the largest for the District since the merger of the three cities. Dufoe points out, the increase didn’t come as a big surprise to the administration – and emphasizes they’ve been preparing for leaps like this the last couple years – though the sheer size of it did catch them a little off guard. Regardless, Dufoe says the enrollment increase is something to celebrate.

Looking at the big picture, the District has to accommodate all the new students, which they’ve begun to address with plans in motion to build a new elementary building in Adel. However, that facility is still more than a year away from opening, so Dufoe says they’ll have to adjust in the meantime. “You know, we have some class size increases that we’ll have seeing this kind of growth. We knew that there would be this interim period before the new building opens, but when all of us have the realization that a new building is coming that will help us bridge that gap. So we’re doing just fine, our folks are great, our teachers are amazing. And so it’s business as usual and this is our new normal, so it’s all great!”

The new elementary school is expected to begin construction this spring, and the plan is to have it open prior to the start of the 2021-22 school year. To learn more about this and other topics involving the ADM School District, click the link below to listen to the recent Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program with Dufoe.

https://www.raccoonvalleyradio.com/2019/11/14/lets-talk-dallas-county-11-14-2019-greg-dufoe/