Enrollment, school capacity part of HRCSD facilities planning

Columbia Gorge News

HOOD RIVER — This is the second in a series looking at the results of the work done by Hood River County School District’s (HRCSD) Long Range Facility Planning Committee (LRFPC), as presented to the school board May 27. In part 1, Columbia Gorge News reported the LRFPC had toured buildings to identifying the needs at each facility, looked at enrollment and economic projections, and considered financial options, including whether to put a bond on the May 2027 ballot, in a series of meetings over the past year.

Now, we take a look at enrollment trends and how room capacity is calculated.

Enrollment declining

That district enrollment is dropping is no secret. It’s a trend that can be seen at schools both across the state and nationwide.

Full-time enrollment this year is 3,670, which is itself below a projection of 3,730 made by Flo Analytics last year. It’s also below the 4,041 full-time students in 2016-2017 — or 371 fewer students. Continued projections show enrollment at 3,382 for the 2034-2035 school year — if enrollment trends persist.

Superintendent Bill Newton said state and nationwide enrollment declines are linked with lower birth rates, and, in Hood River in particular, the lack of affordable housing.

“It’s something that we need to really look at when we are having these conversations about all of our schools and buildings, and the upkeep, and the costs involved with them,” Newton said.

As previously reported, these numbers are important because state school funding is based on school enrollment and makes up a significant portion of HRCSD’s funding.

‘None of your buildings are full’

Steve Nelson, Opsis Architecture and LRFPR member, talked about how capacity rates are determined, with analysis based on many factors: building size, the number and types of classrooms, programs offered, student populations at “feeder” schools, and current vs. projected enrollment. Maximum capacity considers the total number of student “seats” from general instruction spaces only.

Target capacity at the elementary level is 25 students (in a 900 square foot classroom) and 25-27 students at the middle and high school levels (700-950 square foot classrooms).

“Some classrooms can be a little bit bigger, some might be a little bit smaller, but ideally you want to size things for about 25 students,” he said.

Based on enrollment numbers as of April 2025, Cascade Locks is at 37% capacity; Mid Valley at 69%; Parkdale at 87%; Wy’east Middle at 71%; May Street at 76%; Westside at 82%; Hood River Middle at 87%; and Hood River Valley High at 87%.

“We looked at the capacity of the schools, but then we looked at the enrollment itself … to figure out the capacity,” Nelson said, adding that for a site like Cascade Locks, the number is lower because middle and high school students are bused to Hood River. As for Mid Valley, enrollment was “much higher” a couple of years ago, “but the enrollment at that particular school has gone down quite a bit,” he said.

“This is just a pure math exercise based on the national standard,” Cassie Hibbert, Wenaha Group senior project manager and committee partner, said. “If I had one takeaway … it’s that none of your buildings are full.”

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In part 3, Columbia Gorge News looks at how the district could consolidate facilities to optimize spaces, new updates to the athletics master plan, and current bond and financing options.