Contra Costa County enrollment drops to lowest since 2011

Public schools in Contra Costa County saw declining enrollment for the second year in a row in last year, dropping to 169,604 — the lowest it’s been in a decade.

The county, which includes 18 school districts, saw steady enrollment increases between the 2011-12 school year and the 2019-20 school year, going from 169,394 to 178,406, according to the Contra Costa County Office of Education’s 2021-22 annual report released Tuesday. But after the Covid-19 pandemic shut down campuses, the county’s enrollment declined 3%.

Enrollment declined another 2% in 2021-22, according to the report. The state as a whole saw about the same decline last year, dropping to a two-decade low of 5,846,317 students.

The district’s largest district, West Contra Costa Unified, lost about 1,000 students in 2021-22, going from 31,027 to 30,071 — a 3% decline.