Enrollment in Mississippi public schools decreased by 5.26 percent compared to last year according to data released by the state Department of Education Monday.
The MDE said in its preliminary analysis of public school enrollment for the 2020- 2021 school year showed both a drop in the number of students enrolled in kindergarten and a large spike (35.8 percent) in the number of children now home schooling.
The data, as of September 30, showed 442,627 students enrolled in the state’s public schools, a more than 23,000 drop from last year’s enrollment figure of 465,913.
There were 4,345 fewer students enrolled in kindergarten in 2020-2021 compared to last year and over the past three years, kindergarten enrollment dropped by 1,015 students from 34,968 to 30,623. Since the 2010-2011 school year, the number of kindergarteners enrolled in public schools has decreased by 21.32 percent.
The number of home schoolers grew from 18,758 to 25,489 this year and the number of late registrants was up from 208 last year to 1,603 this school year.
Enrollment in Mississippi public schools has declined every year since the 2007-2008 school year, when 493,302 students were attending public schools. The decrease from 2007-2008 to this year represents a 10.27 percent drop.
The Jackson Public School District’s enrollment shrank from 22,510 to 20,401, a drop of 9.4 percent.
The Madison County School District had a slight decrease from 13,310 to 12,988, representing a 2.41 percent drop.
The Rankin County School District’s attendance numbers were down from 19,160 in 2019-2020 to 18,384, a decrease of 4.05 percent.
The Hinds County School district’s enrollment shrank from 5,578 to 5,364, a drop of 3.83 percent.
The Clinton Public School District’s enrollment had a slight reduction, going from 5,306 to 5,250 this year, a drop of 1 percent.
The Pearl Public School District’s numbers declined from 4,366 to 4,035 this year, which represented the second biggest drop in the Jackson metropolitan area of 7.58 percent.
According to data from the National Center for Education, Mississippi’s private school enrollment has been on a downward trend as well. In 2005, there were 57,930 students enrolled in private schools in the state, but just 10 years later, that number had fallen to 43,580, a decrease of 24.77 percent.
