In 30 years, Ely’s K-12 school enrollment has been cut almost completely in half.
That number stood out Monday, as Ely School Board members reviewed enrollment totals for the start of the 2026-27 school year.
Currently, there are 466 students enrolled in the entire district, encompassing kindergarten all the way through the high school senior class.
That total is easily the smallest in better than 100 years of reporting, 20 students fewer than were enrolled this time a year ago and down 118 in the last decade.
But go 30 years out and the numbers tell an even grimmer tale for Ely’s Independent School District.
Since the 1995-96 school year, when there were 921 students in the Ely schools, student population has tumbled 49.4 percent.
Those numbers all played a part in budget reductions made by the district in advance of the 2026-27 school year, based in part on enrollment losses and subsequent declines in revenue based on student population.
The decline was something the district was prepping for, given enrollment at the end of the 2025-26 school year of 482, as well as a 2026 graduating class that numbered 37 seniors and an incoming kindergarten group of just 23.
School officials keep a watchful eye on enrollment numbers, which are tied to state per pupil funding and the district’s financial health.
Another compounding factor is the impact of the post-secondary enrollment option program, which allows students to take courses at the Vermilion campus of Minnesota North College, and receive both high school and college credit simultaneously.
Ea rl ier project ions showed that more than half of Ely’s high school juniors and seniors are enrolled in the PSEO program, amounting to additional losses in revenue.
Enrollment in Ely has fallen precipitously through the decades, diving in half from 921 in the fall of 1995 to 538 in 2009.
From 2010-17, student population slowly rebounded, climbing to 596 at the start of the 2017-18 school year.
A slight dip followed and the start of the Covid-19 pandemic ushered in further drops, to 531 at the start of the 2021-22 school year to as little as 504 the next month.
The district had recovered from those declines, even with a small kindergarten group arriving in the fall of 2023.
But since then Ely has seen another sharp dip with larger graduating classes replaced by smaller incoming kindergarten groups.
The kindergarten class had 24 students last fall with 23 entering the district this year.
School board members generally review enrollment numbers at the start of the school year, and superintendent Anne Oelke provided the latest count during the monthly meeting.
The current totals show 304 students enrolled in the Memorial (Grades 6-12) Building and another 162 in the Washington (K-5).
Only three of the 13 grade levels have at least 45 students, the same as last year and down from seven, four years ago.
Ely’s largest classes are the 56-member 10th grade and the 51-member eighth grade.
Third grade, by contrast, is the smallest with 19 students enrolled and no elementary class reaching 35 students.
With enrollment ranging in the 500s for a least 18 years, it was an era of relative stability in enrollment after massive losses from the mid-1990s through 2009.
Those declines triggered financial woes, a reduction in staff and raised threats of statutory operating debt designation, which occurs when reserves fall into negative balance.
Since then, the district rebuilt its reserves.
Peak K-12 enrollment in Ely was in 1967, when the district reported enrollment of 1,775.
Enrollment last exceeded 1,500 in 1977 (1,502) and last topped 1,000 in 1985 (1,019).
The last year with 750 or more students was 2001 (758), and the last time the district had over 600 students was 2006 (609).
ENROLLMENT IN 696
•Ely school 2026-27
enrollment, by grade
K 23
1 24
2 34
3 19
4 28
5 33
6 41
7 32
8 37
9 51
10 56
11 41
12 46
Total: 466
2025: 484
2024: 525
2023: 530
2022: 545
2021: 531
2020: 559
2019: 573
2018: 565
2017: 596
2016: 582
2015: 565
2014: 549
2013: 560
2012: 559
2011: 545
2010: 544
2009: 538
2008: 563
2007: 567
2006: 609
2005: 621
2004: 645
2003: 682
2002: 708
2001: 758
2000: 783
1999: 825
1998: 834
1997: 880
1996: 909
1995: 921
