News Update

Enrollment decline at Los Angeles Unified less than than expected

Enrollment at Los Angeles Unified dropped by fewer students than predicted, according to the district’s latest numbers. Across the district, enrollment dropped 1.9% among TK-12 students in comparison to the initially projected 4.1%. 

The 1.9% drop comes after two years of steep declines amid the pandemic and represents a loss of 8,000 students since last school year. Tuesday’s enrollment announcement follows the district’s count of actively enrolled students in September, which reported TK-12 enrollment at 422,276 students.

“We’re still declining, but not as quickly as was anticipated,” Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said at Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole. “It seems that for the first time in a decade, there is, at least at this point, that reversal of a long term trend of aggressive enrollment decline.”

The last time LAUSD had an enrollment drop as low as 1.9% was during the 2013-14 school year. Outside factors, such as the rising cost of living and decreasing birth rates, continue to have significant impact on enrollment, but Carvalho said he believes that rolling back some Covid-19 protocols has led some families to return to the district.

The decline in enrollment highlights smaller drops among elementary school students than predicted but points to significant drops among some high school grades. Enrollment in 12th grade dropped rather than increased as predicted, and 11th grade made up a little over a quarter of the loss among TK-12 students at a 7% decline.

As eligibility expands for transitional kindergarten, numbers are lower than initially predicted by the early education department, which told EdSource in April that it expected 5,000 additional students to enroll this school year. Enrollment increased by nearly 2,700 students instead, which was still a bit higher than enrollment predictions by the district’s financial team. 

The district is still looking to further analyze trends and evaluate the impact of these new numbers, according to Chief Financial Officer David Hart. It isn’t yet clear how these enrollment changes reflect across schools.Enrollment numbers play a significant role in district funding, which is based not only on the number of students enrolled but also on their attendance. This recent enrollment analysis, though for internal use, assists in shaping budget projections as the district moves forward.