The enrollment data presented by Education Commissioner Alfred B. Ada to the board showed that the number of students enrolled in public schools for school year 2020-2021 went down to 9,541 from 10,002 in school year 2019-2020.
Over the last five academic years, there has been a slow decline in enrollment: from 10,170 in school year 2016-2017, the enrollment dropped to 10,122 in school year 2017-2018, then to 10,052 in school year 2018-2019, and 10,002 in school year 2019-2020.
Elementary school enrollment dropped to 3,957 for school year 2020-2021 from 4,179 in school year 2019-2020.
High school enrollment dipped from 3,180 in the previous school year to 3,153 in the current school year.
But for middle school, the enrollment went up slightly from 2,199 in the last school year to 2,234 in the current school year.
Among private schools, enrollment went down to 1,687 this school year from 1,847 in the previous school year.
Marianas High School still has the most number of students this school year with 1,519. In school year 2016-2017, MHS had 1,664 students.
The declining enrollment is due primarily to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service rules that have caused families to leave the islands, and secondarily to the Covid-19 pandemic, Board of Education Chairwoman Janice Tenorio said.
She said the declining enrollment will not necessarily result in reduced funding from the federal government.
She said the dollar-per-student ratio of federal spending will rise with the decrease in enrollment.
Right now, the ratio is $668 per student for PSS and $1,400 per student in the special education program, PSS federal programs officer Tim Thornburg said.
