Declining benchmarks, enrollment cause for concern

Polkinghorn said the district remains above average in all five reporting areas, which is consistent with prior years. One area of strength is the district’s all-time high of 91% of its ninth graders being on track to graduate — an increase of 11 percentage points. Another: The on-time graduation rate for the class of 2021 was above 90%.

“These are both outstanding and a reflection of the hard work our staff are doing, at all levels, to prepare students for success in high school,” he said.

But there were also areas of concern, like the decline in the number of students at or above benchmark in attendance, reading and mathematics.

“This data is no surprise to any educator,” he said. “We all recognize the tremendous impact the past three school years of disrupted learning going back to 2019-2020, when the pandemic effectively truncated the year by three months. The effect the pandemic has had on students and staff is reflected in this data. In fact, every superintendent I have had discussion with around student achievement is in the exact spot as we are.

“That being said, I know that each person in the HRCSD family of employees is committed to ensuring our students get everything they need to thrive and grow academically,” Polkinghorn said.

To view the state’s report, visit www.oregon.gov/ode/schools-and-districts/reportcards/Pages/default.aspx.

Enrollment down overall

Human Resources Director Catherine Dalbey updated the board on declining K-12 enrollment numbers. Total enrollment is down 56 students from this time last year, and 259 less than three years ago (pre-pandemic).

At the elementary level, Mid Valley has 10 less, and Hood River Options Academy is down 46. However, Cascade Locks has 14 more students than last year; May Street has 10 more, as does Parkdale, with Westside Elementary seeing one more student.

“We’re up and down at our elementary schools,” she said. Parkdale and Cascade Locks schools are growing, and May Street, Westside, Mid Valley and Parkdale are all seeing enrollment numbers affected by boundary changes.

“There have been drastic changes to Hood River Options Academy,” she added. “… During the pandemic, we had 305 students in the online program (at the elementary level); contrast that to this year, we have 21 students K-5.”

Looking at secondary school numbers, Hood River Options Academy is down 16, and Hood River Middle School is down 55 students. There are 30 more at Wy’east Middle School and 27 more at Hood River Valley High School.

Board Member Julia Garcia-Ramirez asked if homeschooling or charter schools are pulling kids away from the district.

“I think just a handful may have left the district, but I think it’s that phenomenon that we were talking about, with a larger senior class going out and a smaller kinder class coming in,” said Dalbey. “I think that really is the largest explainer of that variance.”

“Truthfully we were seeing some of these trends before the pandemic,” said Board Chair Corinda Hankins Elliott. “… It’s an expensive place to buy a new home and have young children and that type of thing ... And I think that’s the most important part, really realizing that advocating for decreased cost of housing and those types of things will not only bring in teachers but bring in young families.”

Enrollment is important because the state’s school fund money to the district is dependent on enrollment. Approximately 86% of the district’s budget is personnel.

The next school board meets on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the Nathaniel Coe Administration Center.