OKLAHOMA CITY — In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Oklahoma's annual student count shows its first decrease in overall public school enrollment in 19 years.
Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) data shows 694,113 students enrolled in pre-k through 12th grade for 2020-21, a decline of 9,537, or about 1 percent from last year's total.
Pre-k and kindergarten numbers accounted for 75 percent of the decreased enrollment, with 4,734 fewer Pre-K students and 2,381 fewer kindergarteners enrolled in 2020-21 than in 2019-20, suggesting parents are choosing to delay the entry of their 4- and 5-year-olds into school.
One of the main goals of Oklahoma Edge, the OSDE's 8-year strategic plan, is to align early childhood education and learning foundations to ensure at least 75 percent of students are "ready to read" upon kindergarten entry.
Historically, Oklahoma has enjoyed high pmticipation in pre-k. Seventy-six percent of eligible children in the state attended a public Pre-K program last year, compared to national Pre-K attendance rate of 34 percent.
Demographic information showed little change in the racial and ethnic makeup of Oklahoma students. A little more than half of the state's students were Hispanic, American lndian, Black, Asian/Pacific Islander, native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, or members of two or more races, while 47.15 percent of students were white.
Virtual schools saw a big jump in enrollment because of the pandemic. Among districts, Epic Charter Schools saw the biggest gain in overall enrollment. Epic One-on-One Charter School increased enrollment from 17,106 to 35,731, or 110.8 percent, and Epic Blended Learning Centers increased enrollment from 10,962 to 23,714, or 116.3 percent.
Other virtual charters saw substantial increases as well, including:
• Oklahoma Virtual Charter Academy — 50.3-percent increase
• Connections Academy — 60-percent increase
• eSchool Virtual Charter — 212.3-percent increase
• Insight School — 33.1-percent increase
Custer County enrollment trends for the past three school years:
Weatherlord Public Schools
• 2020-21: 2,233
• 2019-20: 2,452
• 2018-19: 2,366
Burcham Elementary — PK-1st
• 2020-21: 489
• 2019-20: 580
• 2018-19: 561
East Elementary — 2nd-3rd
• 2020-21: 315
• 2019-20: 367
• 2018-19: 372
West Elementary — 4th-5th
• 2020-21: 349
• 2019-20: 347
• 2018-19: 357
Weatherlord Middle School — 6th-8th
• 2020-21: 512
• 2019-20: 546
• 2018-19: 502
Weatherlord High School — 9th-12th
• 2020-21: 558
• 2019-20: 612
• 2018-19: 574
Clinton Public Schools
• 2020-21: 2,066
• 2019-20: 2,183
• 2018-19: 2,213
Nance Elementary — PK-1st
• 2020-21: 403
• 2019-21: 472
• 2018-19: 483
Southwest Elementary — 2nd-4th
• 2020-21: 450
• 2019-20: 431
• 2018-19: 439
Washington Elementary — 5-6
• 2020-21: 271
• 2019-20: 301
• 2018-19: 330
Clinton Middle School — 7th-8th
• 2020-21: 308
• 2019-20: 318
• 2018-19: 322
Clinton High School — 9th-12th
• 2020-21: 634
• 2019-20: 661
• 2018-19: 639
Arapaho-Butler Public Schools
• 2020-21: 474
• 2019-20: 772
• 2018-19: 464
AB Elementary School — PK-8th
• 2020-21: 354
• 2019-20: 480
• 2018-19: 358
AB High School — 9th-12th
• 2020-21: 120
• 2019-20: 111
• 2018-19: 106
Thomas-Faye-Custer Unified School District
• 2020-21: 467
• 2019-20: 482
• 2018-19: 491
TFC Elementary School — PK-6th
• 2020-21: 259
• 2019-20: 292
• 2018-19: 299
TFC Junior High School — 7th-9th
• 2020-21: 102
• 2019-20: 97
• 2018-19: 99
TFC High School — 10th 12th
• 2020-21: 106
• 2019-20: 93
• 2018-19: 93
These numbers were taken from the Oklahoma State Department of Education. Numbers for the each school year were collected October 1 of that year.