The Washington Post
DCPS enrollment holds steady
By Bill Turque
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Bucking a decades-long trend of annual losses, D.C. public schools are holding essentially steady in the latest enrollment figures, showing less than a 1-percent decline from 2009.
Audited enrollment data released Wednesday by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) show DCPS with 44,467 students, a decline of 214 from last year's 44,681. Meanwhile, the city's public charter school sector continued its steady growth, with an increase of 7.8 percent, to 27,617 from 25,614.
The full report is available here on the OSSE Web site.
DCPS lost 5 percent of enrollment in 2007, 8 percent in 2008 and another 8 percent in 2009. In a statement, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) said public schools could see the first increase since 1971 in the next school year.
The figures are based on school counts taken in October, audited for residency and other factors. As is typically the case, the raw October counts were somewhat higher. DCPS reported 45,772 students in that census; charter schools claimed 27,953.
A total of 72,406 students attend District public and public charter schools, including students in the New Beginnings program run by the Dept. of Youth and Rehabilitative Services. That represents an increase of 2.5 percent.