In both of the last two years, the Ely School District has made significant budget reductions in an effort to make ends meet.
News this week indicates the budget woes are likely to continue and could get even worse.
There are fewer students sitting in the desks and walking the hallways on the school campus than at any time in the district’s 100-plus-year history.
The totals that came out this week are almost unfathomable.
Overall, there are 484 students enrolled, with only 25 kindergarteners and 19 second-graders.
The Baby Boomers recall the days when the high school alone had classes of 120, 130 or more and total enrollment topped 1,500.
It was 40 years ago that enrollment fell under 1,000 and 25 years ago that the number sunk below 800.
Things seemed to have bottomed out around 2010 when a low of 538 was recorded, and by 2017 there was growth and a total of 598 students.
But since then, the bottom has fallen out again, with a nearly 20 percent drop to 484 and honestly, no end in sight to the collapse.
There are two highly concerning factors amid the current numbers.
First, the biggest classes are at the top, with 53 students in eighth grade and 57 in ninth. Take those two along with the sophomores, juniors and seniors and the district will graduate 236 students the next five years. If kindergarten classes stay around 25, that’s another net loss of 111 students by 2030, with total school population of under 400 a very real possibility.
Compounding the issue is the very real dilemma of post-secondary enrollment options.
While the opportunity to take college courses at Vermilion while getting high school credit is a great deal for students and families, it’s an entirely bad deal for the Ely School District.
A whopping 38 juniors and seniors are up at Vermilion this fall, and with them goes the bulk of the state aid that would otherwise go to the Ely district. That’s a major hit. to the tune of $300,000 or more.
Add it all up and it’s clear that more tough times are in store for the Ely district.
There’s no magic bullet here other than to say many dominoes must fall for the district’s fortunes to be reversed.
The obvious is more young families and more kids in town, but that won’t happen overnight and factors such as livable wage jobs, quality of life, availability and affordability of childcare and housing and the presence of people who want and decide to have kids all play into this.
PSEO is clearly a giant elephant in the room and there’s no clear solution there, either, but something smells when the local district is left holding the bag, and still providing activities, athletics and fine arts for kids who no longer have to show up on campus. It’s past time for schools to pressure lawmakers and seek either change or financial relief.
Ely is and remains a great place to live, but the school is a pillar of the community and a necessity as much as a hospital and clinic, fire protection and other necessities.
But until there are more kids in town, it will be tougher and tougher for the Ely School District to keep afloat and school officials will be tasked with more difficult and painful decisions ahead.
