Enrollment at Danville District 118 schools has recovered from last month, when district officials announced that only about 60 percent of students had registered for classes.
Superintendent Alicia Geddis said at last night’s virtual school board meeting that the district’s enrollment stands currently at 4,635 students, about 80 percent of the total enrollment of 5,804 from the last school year.
Geddis said district officials promoted registration and even called and visited some parents to encourage them to register their students. She says the enrollment number has even increased by almost 100 students since last Thursday.
She did say that a vast majority of students are attending school via remote learning and not in-person.
“Where we once had over 1,000 students participating in-person, that number has shifted. More students are choosing the remote option, and we are down to 724 students who are participating in-person, and 3,911 have shifted to remote.”
Geddis also dispelled rumors that the district is laying off staff members. She said some employees are being moved to other work positions due to the change in education for the school year, but no one has been laid off. Assistant Superintendent John Hart, for example, noted that a teaching assistant is present on each school bus to take students’ temperature.
Geddis says the district’s goal is to learn in new and creative ways for the new school year.
“If the buildings are closed, we may be forced to eliminate some positions, but the goal of the board of education has been clear: let us take our staff and use them in new and creative ways. That’s the goal of the (Danville Education Association) and the Local 399. Together we are committed to using our staff and take this opportunity to propel our students to the next level.”
Danville High School Principal Tracy Cherry says her teachers are all satisfied with classroom participation, even though all of it is being done remotely.
“We’re really kind of excited about the numbers, compared to the spring time,” she said. “So far, I think the numbers are pretty good.”
Geddis said the district’s support staff is monitoring remote attendance and could knock on doors to make sure students participate.
