For a second straight year, the number of homeschooled students in the Ely School District has risen.
According to numbers presented at Monday’s regular school board meeting, 35 children are being homeschooled within the district’s boundaries.
That’s up from a total of 28 reported this time a year ago and 23 in 2023.
School board members didn’t discuss the numbers during a brief session this week, but they’ve generally kept a watchful eye on the totals, and the district has at times reached out to families in an effort to find out more about their decision to homeschool their children.
Over the last decade or so, the home-school numbers have varied, climbing during the Covid-19 pandemic from a recent low of 17 in 2019 to as high as 31 in 2021.
The numbers slid back down to 23 before rising again the last two years.
Religion was once viewed as a leading reason for home-schooling, but it’s unclear what is driving the recent increase. An abundance of online education options could play into the data.
While home-school numbers remain higher than they were prior to the pandemic, the totals are nowhere near as high as they once were.
As recently as 2009, 44 children were receiving instruction at home within the Ely district.
Off and on through the years, the district has reached out to homeschool families in an effort to attract more children to the district and boost enrollment, which is linked to state funding.
A report by superintendent Anne Oelke, included in part of the board packet for Monday’s meeting, indicated that the district lost two elementary school students to homeschooling this fall.
The board has also traditionally had a member serve as a liaison to home-school families, but there has been little formal activity on that front.
Parents who choose to homeschool their children are required by law to report to the school district where they live.
The statistics are limited to Ely School District boundaries only and would not include any children home-schooled in Fall Lake Township, which is part of the Two Harbors-based Lake Superior School District.
The home-school census covers children ages 5-17, but about two-thirds of Ely’s students (24) are ages 8-14.
