Stowe enrollment is essentially flat

Enrollment at Stowe Elementary School dropped from 324 students to 317.

At the middle school, it increased from 175 to 183.

At the high school, it decreased from 237 to 234.

At a Stowe School Board meeting Monday, school Superintendent Tracy Wrend said the slight decrease is statistically insignificant.

“This annual data represents a snapshot of student enrollment at that point in time,” Wrend said. “Student enrollment changes frequently.”

For the past several years, Stowe schools have bucked a statewide trend toward lower enrollment.

Last fall, enrollment increased 5.3 percent from the previous year, to 736 students. Most of the increase occurred at the elementary school, which had 26 new students.

At the start of the 2012-13 school year, Stowe’s enrollment rose by a single student, from 698 to 699. That year, the number of students at the elementary school jumped from 272 to 298.

Enrollment is now approaching capacity at the elementary school, according to Wrend.

The building’s interior space has been reconfigured to the point where there’s no room to provide additional classrooms, she said.

For instance, this year there are 64 fourth-grade students, close to capacity, given the 20- to 22-student limit per classroom considered optimal by school board members.

Continued growth at the school could limit the number of out-of-town students it accepts on a tuition basis, Wrend said.

“It’s something we need to watch in the future,” Wrend said.

It’s easier to accommodate enrollment increases at the high school because of the way classes are structured, she said.

Enrollment in Stowe’s school-based preschool program is at capacity. All 22 slots are filled and several students are on a waiting list.

Additionally, 40 Stowe students are enrolled in community-partner preschool programs.

The school board keeps a close eye on enrollment because of concerns about classroom size, along with the impact enrollment has on the state formula used to calculate education property taxes, said board chairwoman Cam Page.

“It’s important on a micro and macro level,” Page said.

Other school news

• School board members accepted a wood-pellet bid from Bourne’s Energy. The school district will pay $228 a ton, up $7 from last year. Bourne’s presented the lowest of three bids.

• The school district has signed an agreement with the town government for reciprocal use of school and municipal facilities. The agreement will allow student athletic teams to use the Stowe Arena, and it will allow the town to use school auditoriums, classrooms and grounds for town meetings and recreation programs.

• The school board appointed former member Don Post to explore energy-efficiency options for the school district.

• The school board agreed to allow five Peoples Academy students to play on the Stowe High boys’ hockey team. The Vermont Principals’ Association allows student athletes to play for teams in neighboring towns when their own schools don’t offer a particular sport and there is room to accommodate them.